Paul Dickov won’t put the blame for relegation on his playing budget.
But the Scot insists Rovers deserve a modicum of credit for coming within a whisker of staying in the Championship - given their limited wage allowance.
“You don’t want to talk about budgets because it sounds as if you’re making excuses all the time,” Dickov said.
“The last time this club got relegated the budget then was 50 per cent more than what we had this season.
“So for everybody at the club - and I include everybody at the club when I say this - to compete like we did in the Championship, we have got to take a little bit of credit.
“I know that’s hard to say when you’ve been relegated. But we so nearly did it.
“It would’ve been the biggest achievement of my career if we had managed to do it.”
Rovers’ playing budget is believed to have been around the £4m mark last season.
Overall staff costs, including wages for all for non-playing staff, were £9.4m when Rovers were relegated from the Championship two years ago, according to the 2012/13 accounts. They dropped to £7m in League One.
The club recently denied that they planned to cut the playing budget to £2m ahead of their impending return to League One.
Dickov, meanwhile, is continuing to wait patiently for a conclusion to takeover negotiations with John Ryan and Louis Tomlinson, after a formal announcement planned for Friday was put on hold.
The prospective new co-chairmen are understood to be willing to back Dickov with a budget similar to the one Dean Saunders had available two summers ago.