BLACKBURN Rovers first team coach Craig Short was given an enthusiastic welcome during a visit to Southlands High School in Chorley.

The excited audience of pupils invited Craig for a question-and-answer session and were keen to hear about his experience as a footballer and coach.

Craig used his own experience to dispel the assumption that players need to play for a football academy from a young age to be a professional footballer.

And he said the best players he faced were strikers Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney, describing the moment when Rovers played Everton and a 16-year-old Rooney put the ball through his legs then looked back at him with a big grin on his face.