The 2021/22 season could be a challenging for Blackburn Rovers.

Despite assembling a squad that looked ready to battle for promotion from the Championship last season, Tony Mowbray's side ultimately fell well short in their attempts to do that.

The Ewood Park club ultimately finished 15th in the second-tier standings, some 20 points adrift of a play-off place.

But despite subsequently seeing 11 senior players leave the club at the end of last season, Rovers are one of the few Championship teams who are yet to make a signing during the current transfer window.

As a result, with the new season now less then three weeks away, the pressure is building on Rovers to get that business done before they return to competitive action at home to Swansea City on the 7th August.

Here though, we're turning our attention away from all that, to take a look at who we think make up the best Blackburn Rovers XI of the past 15 years, when only including English players.

We start this list between the posts in the goalkeeping position, with former England international Paul Robinson.

The ex-Leeds and Tottenham man arrived at Ewood Park in the summer of 2008 to replace the departing Brad Friedel, meaning he had big gloves to fill during his time in Lancashire, although that is something he did rather well.

Robinson was a consistently reliable last line of defence for Rovers, becoming a popular figure amongst the club's fanbase with some excellent saves and strong performances, winning the club's Player of the Season award in 2010/11, making over 200 appearances in all competitions before leaving the club in the summer of 2015.

Rovers fans are unlikely to be surprised by the fact that the left-back spot in this particular starting lineup, goes to Stephen Warnock.

Joining from Liverpool in the 2007 January transfer window, the left-back quickly established himself as a key feature in Rovers' starting XI, proving to be a big asset both defensively and going forward down the left-hand side of the pitch.

His efforts were enough to earn him a senior international debut for England, and the club's Player of the Season award for the 2008/09 campaign, although he did leave the club that summer, completing a move to Aston Villa after making just over 100 appearances in Rovers colours.

Coming through the club's academy, Phil Jones was still only 18-year-old when he made his Premier League debut for Blackburn back in 2010.

But despite his young age at the time, Jones rarely looked out of place once he had been given a chance in the heart of Rovers' defence, quickly establishing himself as a key figure in the club's back four, and earning himself the nickname "Superman" amongst the Rovers faithful.

That was enough to convince Manchester United to shell out a reported £16.5million for Jones before his 20th birthday, and although things haven't gone to plan recently, the centre back has still won plenty of major honours, and 27 England caps, during his time at Old Trafford.

Adarabioyo's time at Rovers may have only been a brief one, but he certainly made a positive impact at Ewood Park.

Joining on a season-long loan from Manchester City in the summer of 2019, Adarabioyo was made to wait for a chance in the side due to injury, but after a slow start, he soon formed a solid and reliable partnership with Darragh Lenihan in the centre back positions.

His commitment during that loan spell made him a popular figure at Ewood Park, and earned him a move to then newly promoted Fulham last season, Despite their relegation, Adarabioyo's performances were enough to show that a fruitful career in the top-flight of English football awaits him.

In terms of Englishman, right-back isn't a position where Blackburn have particularly flourished over the course of the past few years.

As a result, we're giving the nod on this side of this specific back four, to Todd Kane. Joining from Chelsea on a month-long loan in January 2012, Kane subsequently did enough to get that deal extended until the end of that campaign.

Another season long loan deal for the 2012/13 campaign was a popular piece of business at Ewood Park, and although his performances that time around weren't quite as convincing, Kane's efforts were solid enough to earn him a place in this starting XI.

Moving into the midfield, and we start this particular area of the pitch with the mercurial David Bentley.

Signed on loan from Arsenal in the summer of 2005, Bentley made his move to Rovers permanent in January 2006, and marked that deal with a memorable hat-trick in a 4-3 win over Manchester United at Ewood Park just a day later.

Throughout his time with Rovers, Bentley was capable of coming up with quite spectacular moments out of very little, with his clear quality making him one of the few players of the era to be capped at senior level by England while on the books at Blackburn, before leaving for Tottenham in 2008. The less said about a loan return to Ewood in 2013, the better.

David Dunn has already won his England cap by the time he returned to Blackburn from Birmingham for his second spell with his boyhood club, which is the time period we're looking at here.

Never the less, Dunn remained a huge influence on this side after that return to Ewood Park, continuing to lead by example with his performances in the centre of midfield, while his goals in derbies with local rivals Burnley will remain in Blackburn folklore for years to come.

In the end, that latter spell with Rovers saw Dunn make 208 appearances and score 21 goals for the club in all competitions, ensuring he comfortably passed both the 350 game, and 50 goal mark in Blackburn colours, securing his undisputed place as a club legend.

Brought in the summer of 2017 to help fire Rovers back to the Championship after relegation to League One, Bradley Dack wasted no time in doing exactly that.

His first season at Ewood Park saw him score 18 times to help Rovers win promotion from League One at the first time of asking, claiming both the club and league Player of the Season awards in the process.

Dack then wasted no time in adapting to the Championship, finishing as Rovers' top scorer in their first season back in the second-tier in 2018/19, only to be cruelly hampered by serious injuries in each of the last two seasons, despite which, he has continued to show what an asset he is to the club when fit.

Another loanee from one of the Premier League's big clubs who gets the nod in this side, is Liverpool's Harvey Elliott.

The now 18-year-old winger spent last season on loan with Rovers, and flourished in his first experience of regular first-team football, scoring seven goals and providing 11 assists in 41 Championship games, making him one of the most creative players in the division during that campaign.

Indeed, those performances look to be enough to have earned Elliott the chance to prove himself in Liverpool's side in pre-season at least, and at his age, if he continues on the trajectory he set off on at Ewood, no-one at Blackburn will be surprised to see him playing senior football for England in a few year's time.

Leading the line for Rovers, Danny Graham is a player it would have felt harsh to leave out of this particular side.

Having joined on loan in January 2016, Graham's then returned permanently that summer, and despite a respectable return of 12 goals in 35 league outings wasn't enough to prevent the club suffering relegation during the 2016/17 season.

Even so, the striker played a key role in helping Rovers win promotion to the Championship, and re-establishing themselves in the division in the following two years, claiming the club's Player of the Season award for 2018/19. His character and clear passion for the club also made him a him hugely popular figure amongst supporters, who will no doubt always be a welcome figure back at Ewood Park.

Having helped fire Blackburn to promotion from League One during the second-half of the 2017/18 campaign with some crucial goals, it was no surprise to see Rovers move to bring Armstrong back permanently that summer.

But despite a quiet first season back in the Championship, that has certainly paid off since then, with Armstrong filling the goalscoring void left by Dack's injuries and Graham's eventual departure brilliantly, netting 44 league goals in the past two seasons.

With 28 of those coming during the 2020/21 campaign alone, it is no surprise Armstrong is now being heavily touted for a move to the Premier League this summer, and after the past couple of years, you would have to back him to make an impact at that level.