BLACKBURN Rovers boss Gary Bowyer wants his side to sign off for the season with victory at home to Ipswich Town – but he hopes it does not cost Mick McCarthy’s side a place in the play-offs.

Should Rovers triumph in tomorrow’s Sky Sports-live clash at Ewood Park it could be enough to send Ipswich crashing out of the top six on the last day of the campaign.

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Bowyer believes McCarthy has done ‘unbelievably’ to get the Tractor Boys into promotion contention.

And he says the job the vastly experienced former Republic of Ireland manager has done shows what can be achieved even with next to no money to spend.

“I think Mick McCarthy has done an unbelievable job,” said Bowyer, who will be restricted to free transfers and loan signings this summer under the club’s embargo for failing Financial Fair Play.

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Rovers’ on-loan winger Paul Taylor cannot face his parent club in tomorrow’s season finale

“He’s someone I have an enormous amount of respect for. He’s as straight as they come and I’ve had several conversations with him this season and he’s been very good with the advice that he’s given me.

“I’d like Ipswich to get into the play-offs, then who knows where it goes from there, as they are an example of what can be achieved with very limited resources.”

The Tractor Boys will seal their place in the top six with a point tomorrow.

In contrast ninth-placed Rovers’ play-off hopes effectively ended in March.

And, even if they win tomorrow, they will still finish three points and one place worse off than last season.

“I think we have continued to make progress as we’re continuously reducing the wage bill and continuously being competitive and the players we have now are massively valuable assets to the club,” said Bowyer, who is in his second full campaign in charge of Rovers.

“And from a playing side of it, I think we showed in the fantastic FA Cup run we had what we’re capable of, but from a league position point of view, we’re disappointed because we certainly should have got more points than what we have got because we have been in some great positions.

“But when we first came in to where we are now – with two top-10 finishes, the changeover of the squad, and optimism around the place – then that’s progress.”

Rovers’ hopes of progressing further this season have hampered by their inability to hold on to leads.

They have thrown away 27 points from winning positions and Bowyer will try to address that in the summer.

He said: “What we’ve got to do is try and keep hold of our players and try and add the one or two that might give us that bit of experience and know-how in certain times of the game to get us over the line because we should have converted some of these draws into wins.”

Bowyer will be without the ineligible Paul Taylor and the injured Grant Hanley, Matt Kilgallon, Alex Baptiste, Shane Duffy, Jason Lowe and Chris Taylor tomorrow.

But captain Hanley, in an effort to get fit for Scotland’s big Euro 2016 qualifier with Republic of Ireland on June 13, could feature for the U21s next week.