While Daniel Ayala wanted to stay in English football he admits he would have only signed for a team he felt capable of challenging for a return to the Premier League.

Ayala had interest from overseas clubs, not least lucrative offers to play in Saudi Arabia, but opted for Rovers on a three-year deal as he eyes another tilt at promotion from the Championship.

In his seven years at Middlesbrough, he won promotion to the Premier League in 2016, and was part of a side beaten in the play-off final 12 months earlier, also having a season in the top-flight with Norwich in 2011/12.

A seven-year spell ended at the Riverside in June, with spells at Norwich, Derby, Hull and Nottingham Forest also under his belt since coming through the ranks at Liverpool, with the next stage of his career coming at Ewood Park.

“My family were happy for me to stay in England and I really believe that the main focus here is on trying to go back up,” he said.

“That was really important for me. I didn’t just want to be in the Championship and playing for a team that’s happy to stay there. The focus here is to get promoted.

“I’m nearly 30 now so I have experience, especially of the Championship so I’m here to help the team.

“Having been here a week now I know we’ve got a really good team and I just want to help them and bring something to the team.”

Ayala, who has been described as ‘Spanglish’ given the length of time he’s been in England, believes his game is suited to the Championship, with his deemed no-nonsense approach having been harnessed during his time playing in the second tier.

This calendar year has been a frustrating one for him though, his last appearance coming back on New Year’s Day, with an ankle injury keeping him sidelined until his time with Boro came to an end in June.

Ayala, a self-confessed Middlesbrough fan, was happy to see the club survive and did wish to play a part in their battle to beat the drop post-lockdown, but said that was taken out of his hands.

And now Tony Mowbray will finally get the opportunity to work with Ayala having put in the leg work to sign him from Norwich late in 2013, only to lose his job before the deal was finalised.

“I remember it was going on for about a month but before Norwich would let me join Middlesbrough he had already left,” Ayala explained.

“Mark Venus was the caretaker so I had three games with him which was really good.”

Since leaving Boro in June Ayala has been training alone, similar to the approach of Lewis Holtby last summer before his respective move to Rovers.

While training alone, Ayala used the facilities of Nantwich Town to keep him in the best shape possible, though he admits it was never a case of him training with the squad.

The international break could come at a good time for Ayala who believes he will need another two to three weeks to get up to speed before being able to feature.

“It was a big decision, everyone knows I had other options and it was a big decision to make, but I’d been speaking to Tony Mowbray and from coming to see everything, the training ground, that made the decision a lot easier,” said Ayala, who also discussed with move with former Norwich team-mates Elliott Bennett and Bradley Johnson.

“I spoke to Tony and the club have been really good to me. Having not trained with a team for eight months I needed some time to get training and some fitness back.

“I’ve been doing fitness work on my way but that’s a lot different from training and playing.

“I think hopefully two or three weeks I will be ready.”

His job when he does get out on the pitch will be to help a Rovers defence which has struggled for consistency since their return to the Championship, with Mowbray turning to Ayala, a player he feels is among the very best in the division.

“The way I defend I think it suits more the English league than the Spanish league,” Ayala said.

“When I first came to England I was probably a bit different, more with the ball, but once you’ve played in the Championship so many years and the coaches I’ve had they wanted a more no-nonsense defender so they’ve completely shaped my style.”