BLACKBURN Rovers boss Gary Bowyer insists Shane Duffy must not be the only addition he makes to his ‘stretched’ squad.

Speaking after Saturday’s disappointing 3-1 defeat at Wolves Bowyer confirmed a deal to bring centre back Duffy from Everton will go through before the transfer window for permanent signings closes at 11pm.

But he also stressed the need for further reinforcements after Rudy Gestede and Josh King joined Tommy Spurr on the sidelines.

Bowyer, who was also missing left back Markus Olsson at Molineux because of a family bereavement, said: “We need some numbers.

“We only had four missing on Saturday but it left us really stretched.

“We are working hard to get some more in and we thought we had two loan deals done on Friday.

“But they didn’t happen and we’ve had to go back to the drawing board because we certainly need some more numbers.

“But everything has been agreed and sorted for Shane so that should be all done.

“Shane will bring a lot of size and quality and we’ve known about him for a long time from watching him at youth level at Everton.

“He’s dominant in both boxes, especially in the air.”

Bowyer admitted his side could have done the with physical presence that the 6ft 4in Duffy – who is on standby for the Republic of Ireland squad which takes on Oman in a friendly in Dublin on Wednesday and Georgia in a Euro 2016 qualifier in Tbilisi on Sunday – can offer against Wolves.

Rovers were masters of their own downfall on Saturday with the three goals they conceded coming as a result of poor defending.

But they were not helped by the loss of talismanic striker Rudy Gestede – who watched the match from the stands – with what the club described as an ankle injury.

Bowyer said: “It happened in training on Friday and he felt he would be okay.

“But he failed a fitness test and now we’ll have to monitor it.”

Bowyer was boosted by the inclusion of Chris Brown in his squad for the first time.

But the striker, who has yet to kick a ball for Rovers following his summer switch from Doncaster because of a troublesome knee injury, remained on the bench.

Bowyer said: “We didn’t want to risk him as he probably only had five or 10 minutes in him.

“But we thought mentally it would be a boost to get him on the bench.”

King was declared to be ill.

The winger has been named in the Norway squad for their friendly with England at Wembley on Wednesday.