TonyMowbray wants Rovers to be ‘a player’ rather than just ‘a part’ of the Championship next season.

Mowbray is aware of the strength of the second tier but wants Rovers to use the momentum from their promotion campaign to take in to 2018/19.

All three sides promoted from League One in 2016/17 survived in the Championship last season, with two, Millwall and Sheffield United, finishing in the top 10.

Mowbray believes the league will be among the most competitive in the world, but it’s one that he believes his side can be successful in.

He said: “In my mind you could argue it’s the best league in the world as it’s the most competitive league in the world.

“If you take the top six out of the Premier League then there’s a huge gap between them and everyone else but that’s not the case in the Championship.

“It’s a massively competitive league with a lot of big, big clubs, huge crowds and we’re delighted to be a part of it but I would prefer not just to be a part of it.

“I’d prefer to try and be a player in it where we can affect games and win matches and the big teams who are freshly out of the Premier League can feel Blackburn Rovers as a threat.

“It’s a tough division, but I would like to give the club the best chance to work on the momentum, to keep the support base behind the team and understand it is a difficult league, it’s one that we can be competitive in and any given day they can come to Ewood and see their team win against teams who have been in the Premier League this season and be really competitive.”

Rovers have a strong core of players under contract for next season, with several of them tied down to long-term deals.

Having won promotion back to the Championship at the first attempt, Mowbray says those players will get a fair crack of the whip next season, despite eyeing new faces over the course of the season.

But those arrivals won’t be coming to Ewood Park on large salaries, with the boss keen to maintain the positive team spirit within the dressing room which served them well in 2017/18.

Taking a long-term view on the situation, Mowbray added: “This group of players deserve respect as well, I don’t think it’s right to go out there and bring in superstar footballers on treble the money the players we’ve got are on.

“That would be the wrong thing to do.

“We need to build it and if we can be successful next year then we can reward the current crop of players who would be doing well if we’re successful to try and build it bit by bit if we can.”