As the January transfer window moves ever closer, there will be one word dominating the thoughts of many of a Blackburn Rovers persuasion: contracts.

While Tony Mowbray's side are currently enjoying an excellent season, the situation surrounding the future of many of the club's key players will be a concern with another market on the horizon.

As things stand, key trio Joe Rothwell, Ryan Nyambe and Darragh Lenihan are all set to be out of contract at the end of this season.

Meanwhile, the club will need to trigger one year extensions on the deals of top scorer Ben Brereton Diaz and first-choice goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski to prevent them leaving for nothing in the summer.

As a result, interest in those players in the January transfer window could put some pressure on the club to sell, and doing so would be a big blow given their importance to Rovers' promotion push on the pitch.

However, it now seems as though Blackburn could be about to be handed some respite on the contract front.

It was reported over the weekend that striker Sam Gallagher is set to pen to paper on an extended deal with the club, and although he is not one of Rovers may face a big decision on next month with an imminently expiring contract, this will still undoubtedly be good news for the club.

Despite struggling with injury over the past month or so, Gallagher has been in excellent form for Rovers this season.

His tireless work rate has deservedly seen him win an increased sense of favour with the Rovers faithful, and he has also been producing a quality of performance to match.

While his exploits may have been overshadowed by the inevitably headline grabbing form of strike partner Brereton Diaz, Gallagher himself has also come up with significant, and very well taken goals this season.

As a result, the 26-year-old does feel rather deserving of this new deal, and Rovers in turn will be securing the long-term services of a player in some excellent form right now.

Indeed, having failed to source a replacement for Adam Armstrong following his departure for Southampton last summer, and with Brereton Diaz's own future still looking like it is very much up in the air, securing the future of one striker in Gallagher, certainly looks to be important for the Ewood Park club.

It is also worth noting that this move to secure a new deal for Gallagher, suggests Rovers are taking steps to avoid a repeat of the situation they currently find themselves in.

As things stand, the striker's current deal set to expire at the end of next season. Completing this new contract for him in the coming weeks, therefore means they will avoid finding themselves in the sort of uncertain situation they are now in with the likes of Brereton Diaz, Rothwell, Nyambe, Lenihan and Kaminski, when it comes to Gallagher's own future this time next year.

That does seem to suggest that the club are looking to learn from their current position for years to come, which will no doubt be a relief for Rovers supporters, especially considering other key players such as Lewis Travis, Bradley Dack and Daniel Ayala are also out of contract at the end of next season.

It seems therefore, that for all the concerns about expiring deals and their impacts on the side, there is still one reason for Blackburn fans to at least feel a sense of positivity, with regards to the contract front.