Blackburn boss Tony Mowbray is fully focused on strengthening his squad after seeing 11 first-team players leave the club following relegation to League One.

Rovers will be plying their trade in the third tier of English football for the first time since 1980 next season after they were relegated from the Championship on the final day of the 2016-17 campaign.

The Blue and Whites have released six first-team regulars while a further five players have returned to their parent clubs after the conclusion of their respective loan spells at Ewood Park.

Those departures mean Mowbray has just 15 players under contract ahead of next season and he admits there are some areas of his squad need looking at in the coming weeks.

“I think there are some critical areas now that we have been emptied out almost by players leaving,” Mowbray told the Lancashire Telegraph.

“It is a big summer to try and get the recruitment right in pretty critical areas of the team that we have lost.”

The former Celtic and Middlesbrough boss is particularly concerned with his options up front, with Lucas Joao, Marvin Emnes and Sam Gallagher all having left the club following the conclusion of their loan spells.

“At the top end of the pitch we have spaces to fill and I have had these discussions with the owners,” the 53-year-old added.

Blackburn Rovers will be hoping to make an immediate return to the Championship next season as they prepare to take on the likes of Shrewsbury, Wimbledon and Northampton in League One.