Rovers have announced the third friendly of their off season fixture programme, with 4,000 home fans set to be in attendance.

Tony Mowbray will take his side to League Two outfit Bradford City on Saturday, July 24 (3pm) as part of their pre-season preparations.

The Bantams have announced the game will be a pilot fixture, with the capacity at The Utilita Energy Stadium capped at 4,000 in line with Covid-19 restrictions.

However, tickets will only be on sale to home supporters, with the two clubs currently in discussions about the feasibility of the match being streamed live online.

Rovers fans haven’t seen their side in action inside a stadium since the 2-2 draw with Swansea City on February 29 2020. The only match to have been played with fans since was the 2-2 draw at Brentford in December.

The club have so now announced three of their friendly fixtures, starting with a trip to AFC Fylde on Saturday, July 10 and rounding off with a trip to Bolton Wanderers on Saturday, July 31.

Rovers are looking to schedule an Ewood friendly, which would only be a third in three years, for the week inbetween matches against Bradford and Bolton, with the hope that would see them welcome fans back to the club’s headquarters for the first time in 17 months.

They last had a home pre-season friendly in July 2018 when they faced both Liverpool and Everton, and while they have since faced Premier League opposition on two occasions since, both have been away from home, playing Liverpool at Anfield in June 2020 and Leicester City at the King Power Stadium two months later.

The club will look to release season ticket details to supporters this week ahead of the planned return for the next campaign.

The players are expected back in pre-season training at the end of this month, the 2020/21 season having finished with the 5-2 final day win over Birmingham City on May 8.

The club has looked into the prospect of an overseas trip, as well as one in the UK, with the situation having been complicated by the coronavirus restrictions.

Rovers have spent three of the last four summers in Austria, while the players also went on a warm weather training camp to Portugal in January 2020.

There remains a blank weekend in their pre-season programme, on July 17, and there is the likelihood of two more pre-season matches to be announced, alongside those for the Under-23s side.

The 2021/22 season gets underway on Saturday, August 7, with the fixtures to be released on Thursday, June 24.

Bradford will be under new management when the two sides meet, Derek Adams having taken on the role at the Bantams having opted to leave Morecambe, despite guiding them into League One via a play-off final win over Newport County.

The two sides last met in 2017/18, with Rovers getting their League One promotion campaign up and running with a 1-0 win away from home, before winning the reverse fixture at Ewood 2-0.