GARY Bowyer feels his dealings in the transfer market while in charge at Blackburn Rovers “helped keep the club going”.

Bowyer returns to Ewood Park as manager of League Two Blackpool for this afternoon’s FA Cup fourth round tie, the first time he has been back since being sacked as Rovers boss in November 2015.

The 45-year-old spent almost 12 years at Rovers, working first in the Academy, before his promotion to reserve team coach, caretaker boss, and then permanent manager in May 2013.

Many of Bowyer’s signings are now plying their trade in the Premier League, or top end of the Championship, with Rovers making profits on the likes of Tom Cairney, Rudy Gestede and Shane Duffy.

Towards the end of his time as manager, Bowyer was forced to work under the strict rules of a transfer embargo after the club failed to meet Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules.

“When I look back at my track record of bringing players in, I think I spent £3million on seven players, and if you look at the transfer fees we got for some of those players, Tom Cairney, Rudy Gestede, Shane Duffy, the amount of money the club made from those purchases, I think have helped to keep the club going,” he told the Lancashire Telegraph.

“I think it is very difficult for any manager when your better players get sold and you aren’t provided with the funds to replace that quality of player that has left.”

His two full seasons in charge saw him lead the club to eighth and ninth placed finishes, which also included a run to the last eight of the FA Cup.

However, 16 games in to the 2015/16 season, with the club 16th in the Championship, he was sacked.

And he added: “The first year we were two points off the play-offs in a season where we conceded something like 12 penalties away from home, half of which weren’t, and you can’t underestimate how costly that was.

“The following year we had a fabulous run in the FA Cup, beat two Premier League sides in Swansea City and Stoke City, before being knocked out by Liverpool in the sixth round replay.

“This was done all amid the massive embargo that was placed on us and working hard to reduce that.

“We brought in players such as Josh King, Shane Duffy, Tom Cairney and Rudy Gestede.

“We sold players for millions of pounds and weren’t able to go in to the market and replace that quality.

“I still thought we were competitive in our last year and playing good football.

“So at the time, I was disappointed to lose my job.”

Bowyer revealed he still looks out for Rovers’ scores, but that won’t stop him looking to get one over on his former side this afternoon.

Blackpool arrive at Ewood Park looking for their second Championship scalp of the competition after knocking out Barnsley following a third round replay at Oakwell.

That set up the clash with Rovers, one Bowyer admits hadn’t crossed his mind before they beat Barnsley.

“Initially when I saw it I didn’t think anything more about it other than knowing who our next opponent would be,” he said

“We knew that we could not look any further past Barnsley and I will be honest, I did not give it much thought.

“It was a fantastic night for us.

“In the first game I thought we played ever so well and we knew that we had created some chances, and that gave us some confidence going in to the replay.

“To go there and do what we did, in the manner that we did, in the last minute of extra-time, was a fantastic achievement.

“I think once you have already played against a Championship side, and knocked one out, it can’t not give you a lift and it will have given our players an enormous amount of confidence.”