Damien Johnson says there was no ploy to hold players back from going out on loan to have a successful season in Premier League 2 Division Two.

Rovers lifted the title, and won promotion, after losing just two games all season and will compete in Premier League 2 next season.

Of the Under-23s group, only Scott Wharton and Jack Doyle were sent out on loan, joining Lincoln and Derry respectively in the second half of the season.

But Johnson says that was down to the opportunities that came up for players, with lessons learned from the past in which temporary switches haven't worked out.

And he says there will be discussions with first-team boss Tony Mowbray in the summer over the next stage of development for Rovers' talented group of Academy graduates.

“You have to be careful when you send lads out on loan,” Johnson told the Lancashire Telegraph.

“We have seen it with players that have come in to our own club, for whatever reason they don’t quite work out and you end up not getting the game-time.

“That’s key to their development that they keep playing games because it’s the games that are a massive part of the development process.

“You see in the games where the gaps are in their development.

“If you go out on loan and it doesn’t work out, you spend six months not playing games so we have had to be selective.

“We felt the ones with the opportunities that came up. There wasn’t a stance that we kept this group of players together to win this league, that was never a goal.

“If the moves were right for the lads then they went.

“Scott’s was a good fit, we learned from some mistakes last year when Matty Platt and Conor Thomson went to Barrow and it wasn’t a great experience for them.

“That’s the reason, no decision was made to keep them back.”

A number of the squad were also part of the first-team squad at various parts of the season, while the Checkatrade Trophy offered more opportunities that would otherwise have been available to the club's young players.

Willem Tomlinson made a handful of appearances towards the end of 2017 while Lewis Travis became a regular fixture in the matchday squad in early 2018.

Joe Nuttall was another who finished the season with the Under-23s but enjoyed success  with the senior side, scoring five goals, and being regularly involved.

And with the club operating League One, Johnson said that skewed how many clubs viewed the Rovers youngsters, leaving him surprised at the lack of interest.

He added: “Sometimes the lads themselves turned them down because they didn’t think the level was quite right.

“Ideally we want to be filtering lads in to the league.

“Because we were a League One club you naturally drop a level or two to go out on loan.

“We see clubs taking players from the Premier League and you can argue that a few years ago when we were a Premier League club we would have had more interest.

“We were surprised we didn’t have as much interest in them.

“They have to really know the player and it has to be the right fit

“Lewis Travis and Willem Tomlinson were around the first-team and at that particular time it wasn’t right for the manager.

“Those are the reasons they don’t go – if the move isn’t right or they are in and around the manager brings.

“The manager will decide in pre-season what happens next for them.”

Tomlinson, Wharton, Doyle and Lewis Hardcastle were among those who travelled with the first-team to their pre-season trip to Austria last summer.

And they enjoyed a stellar season alongside the first-team as they never dropped below third in the table.

Rovers signed off their season with a 4-1 win at West Brom last month though they were actually crowned champions without playing after Aston Villa dropped points.

While it is development, rather than results, which is of most concern to Johnson, he was delighted the camaraderie in the dressing room was rewarded with the title.

And he admits that no matter what the players go on to achieve in their careers, the experiences of the 2017/18 season will live with them forever.

He added: “What is really special is that myself and Dunny (David Dunn) played for a long time and we never won a league title at youth or development level, or reserve level as it was back then.

“It’s difficult, you don’t often have the chance and when you do have success you remember it.

“They are such a tight group, they have grown up together and are good mates so this will be extra special.

“Whatever career they have, and we hope they go on to have fantastic careers, this will be one of their fondest memories, regardless of how successful they are.

 “They will remember this season and for them I am glad that they got the job done and saw it through.

“It’s not their end game but I’m really pleased for them.”