Blackburn Rovers will hope to enter the summer transfer market and beyond with Michael O’Neill continuing at the helm after retaining their Championship status for another season.

The former Stoke City manager joined at Ewood Park in February, as Blackburn faced relegation to League One.

Combining his new responsibilities with his existing role as manager of the Northern Ireland national team, O’Neill has now led Blackburn to safety after five victories and four defeats in 14 games, with the Lancashire club in 20th place and five points clear of the drop zone ahead of Saturday’s home match against already-relegated Leicester City.

O’Neill’s current contract expires at the end of the season, so it’s no surprise that Blackburn want to extend the 56-year-old’s stay.

That is still a possibility, as talks on O’Neill’s future continue behind the scenes, which many Blackburn fans hope will be at Ewood Park.

The manager’s stance has also become clearer, and with Rovers seeming increasingly likely to sign a new contract, exactly what O’Neill will need to execute and improve in readiness for the 2026/27 season has revealed.

Michael O’Neill demands a senior managerial partner at Blackburn Rovers.

Alan Nixon of The Sun has provided a new update via his private Patreon service, detailing how O’Neill aims to bolster his coaching team if he is to continue in command of Blackburn after the campaign concludes.

When O’Neill arrived in East Lancashire, he took previous caretaker Damien Johnson, former Rovers defender Phil Jones, and Steven Davis with him.

However, it has emerged that O’Neill wishes to strengthen the coaching team with more expertise, with Nixon stating that the Northern Irishman is trying to employ a senior, well-versed assistant.

O’Neill is claimed to have previously communicated such plans to the Blackburn management, who are apparently willing to allow the manager to strengthen while also providing a budget for new recruits.

According to the source, Blackburn hopes for a quick conclusion to O’Neill’s future as he weighs his choices and considers the situation.

However, Nixon has suggested that, barring an unforeseen change of circumstances, O’Neill is set to continue with the Championship club moving into next season, noting a “great agreement on both sides”.

Michael O’Neill outlines what Blackburn Rovers must fix as a new agreement looms.

O’Neill has also highlighted exactly what Blackburn needs to do to get out of relegation peril and become more competitive in the Championship next season, with big changes likely if he is given the position full-time.

Though O’Neill’s immediate aim is to end the season strong, he believes that this summer’s recruitment mission must be prioritized in order to strengthen the squad and achieve goals for the coming season.

He recognises the squad’s potential and will hope for appropriate support once the summer transfer window opens.

Speaking to the Lancashire Telegraph, O’Neill stated, “The squad has been extremely tested. I can’t speak for earlier in the season, but the availability of players has been a significant challenge during my tenure.”Many players at the club have had limited minutes this season due to various reasons,

which is not ideal.”People like Sean McLoughlin and Ryan Alebiosu have been exceptional. (Eiran) Cashin and Adam Forshaw have provided excellent results.Ryoya Morishita and Yuki Ohashi delivered another outstanding performance. We’ve had young players step in at crucial moments.

Tom Atcheson has come in and performed admirably since joining the team. Balazs Toth has performed admirably as the goalie.

“I think it shows there’s quite a lot of potential in the squad. But equally, we’ve got to recognise why we have to go to the 45th game to preserve our Championship status.”

Additionally, they have faced significant challenges due to our injury list, which may occasionally be quite discouraging for players. But considering how many important players we’ve had absent throughout that time, I believe they’ve handled that rather well.

After dealing with a series of injury setbacks, O’Neill is now looking ahead and thinks Blackburn has a “long way to go” if they want to go forward and add some quality players to the team.

“But certainly, in relation to where this team is right now, the first thing with any good team, or the first step, is to be difficult to beat,” he continued.

“There’s a long way to go in terms of this team’s development and what this team would need to be away from the situation we’re in right now, definitely.”However, that will have to wait until the summer and the following season. The goal of the present is to maintain our current level of improvement and ensure that the season ends on a high note.