Lincoln

Blackburn Rovers manager Tony Mowbray believes his team will be better prepared for their league season than they were 12 months ago. The Rovers began their League One season last term with back-to-back defeats after having spent their pre-season tackling clubs from the lower divisions in England.

The Lancashire outfit once more have games against weaker sides in the form of Hibernian, Port Vale, Lincoln City and Accrington Stanley but Mowbray is pleased that the club have found a better balance with a couple of high-profile friendlies yet to be announced. He said:“I think we’ve got a balanced pre-season this year. We’ve got some fixtures that we haven’t announced yet, that are going to really test the team. We’re going to be out of possession and we’re going to have to work hard on our defensive shape. And then there’s some games where hopefully we’ve got some of the ball and we’re going to work at trying to break the teams down.”