John Eustace issues pre-season challenge to Rovers squad

John Eustace insists there will be opportunities to impress during pre-season – and challenged his Rovers squad to grab them with both hands.

The head coach is preparing for his first full season at Ewood Park after guiding the side to safety last term.

Jack Vale and Georgie Gent are two youngsters Eustace will be keeping a close eye on in the coming weeks.

The duo had loan spells north of the border with Motherwell last season, getting experience under their belts in the Scottish Premiership.

“I went and saw Jack Vale and Georgie Gent play at Motherwell at the end of the season,” Eustace told RoversTV. “They are two young, exciting players coming into the group and I am looking forward to seeing how they do over the next six or seven weeks.

“Everyone will get an opportunity, we have got lots of friendlies and those games are opportunities for everyone to highlight what they have got.

“It is about us getting fit as a team, it is not about results. It is also about making sure younger players get an opportunity to showcase themselves in front of our fans and myself.

“The most important thing is that we start the season well and get as many positive results as we can before the international break.

“These six or seven weeks now are all geared for that and it is important nobody gets carried away with the friendly games.

“We go there to get fit and try different systems and personnel out to see where we are come that first game against Derby County.”

Eustace was encouraged by the togetherness in the camp last season despite the pressures of a relegation battle.

There had also been challenges off the pitch at times, but the squad showed character to get over the line with a memorable victory at champions Leicester on the final day.

The boss is eager to kick on next season and hopes they can keep building “positivity” at Ewood Park.

“It’s a really exciting time. The boys have come, they’re fully fit and raring to go,” Eustace continued.

“They have had a really good summer but you can see they have all worked hard to keep their fitness levels up, which the modern player does now.

“They haven’t come in to get super fit, they have come in to make sure they are ready for the first game of the season and everyone is looking forward to it.

“It is important we build on the good work we did at the end of last season. We built that togetherness, the fans were fantastic with the players which is what we asked for.

“Going into this season, we need everyone on board and singing from the same hymn sheet again.

“The most important think is we keep building and bring positivity to this football club, which is what we did when we finished last season. It is what I want going forward.”