Blackburn Rovers manager Tony Mowbray has admitted that the club moved to re-sign Harrison Reed from Southampton in the summer, before the midfielder's deadline day move to Fulham.

Reed spent last season on-loan at Ewood Park, making 33 appearances and scoring three goals for Mowbray's side during that time, becoming a popular figure with the club's fan-base in the process.

It has now been confirmed that Blackburn made a deadline day move to bring Reed back to Ewood Park, before Fulham stepped in and secured a season-long loan for the 24-year-old, who, by a quirk of the fixture computer, made his debut for Scott Parker's side in a 2-0 win over Rovers on Saturday.

Speaking in the aftermath of that game, Mowbray lamented the financial power of a recently relegated side such as Fulham, as he told the Lancashire Telegraph: “He was someone we tried very hard to bring back, yet we couldn’t match the financial power of a club have just been relegated from the Premier League.

“The numbers are quite dramatic, but what I would say is that we’ve been supported fantastically well.

"We were able to buy Gallagher (for a reported fee of £5million) in this window, there’s been financial backing, but when a team comes out of the Premier League with a parachute payment of £40m, it helps."

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Rovers, who have lost their opening two games of the Championship season, did add to their central midfield ranks this summer, with Bradley Johnson joining from fellow Championship side Derby County, with Lewis Travis, Corry Evans, Richie Smallwood and Jacob Davenport all also providing options in that area of the pitch.

The Verdict

This is a strange one.

Given how influential he was on the pitch and how popular he was off it last season, you can fully understand why Rovers were keen to bring Reed back to the club this summer.

That being said, with Mowbray still having plenty of options to choose from in the centre of his midfield this season, this doesn't look to be quite as big a blow as it may otherwise have been.

Given that the club were clearly keen to bring Reed back however, it does make you wonder why they didn't move for him earlier in the window, something which may well have increased their chances of re-signing the midfielder before a club such as Fulham came in for him.