A number of Blackburn Rovers players showed their appreciation and support for a young fan on his birthday after he was going through a tough time.

Twitter user Catherine (@CathBRFC) tweeted a picture on Sunday (January 22) of her son Sammy on his 12th birthday, looking smart in his Blackburn Rovers jersey.

In the post, she said: “It’s my baby boy’s 12th birthday today. He loves going to watch his Rovers on a Saturday afternoon.

“He’s not had a great time of it recently with his dad passing away so we’re going to make it an amazing birthday.

“Happy birthday Sammy Dodger.”

Within hours, Catherine’s tweet was getting replies from Rovers players and other members of the footballing world.

Key player Bradley Dack led the appreciation, saying: “Happy Birthday Sammy! Sorry to hear you’ve had a tough time recently mate.

"I hope your looking forward to watching us at the weekend, take care the rest of the week and I will catch up with you at Ewood on Saturday.”

Striker Sam Gallager said: “Happy Birthday Sammy! Sorry to hear you’ve had a tough time mate. I hope you’ve still had a good day.”

Midfielder Tyrhys Dolan added: “Happy 12th birthday Sammy! Sorry to hear you have been going through a tough time mate, we are all here for you.

"I hope you have had a great day and enjoyed it as best you can. Look forward to seeing you at Ewood little man.”

Academy graduate John Buckley said: “Happy Birthday Sammy, sorry to hear you’ve had a tough time recently. See you at Ewood on Saturday pal.”

Summer signing Sammie Szmodics said: “Sammy! Happy birthday my man. Hope you’ve had a fantastic day. See you soon at Ewood my friend.”

It wasn’t just Rovers’ current squad getting involved though, with replies coming in from other high-profile names in the game.

Sky Sports pundit and touchline reporter Geoff Shreeves replied saying “Happy Birthday Sammy, hope you had a great day".

Former Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler, who made a handful of appearances for Rovers in 2008, said “Happy birthday Sammy.”

Thomas Kaminski and Rovers' official club account also joined in with sending Sam goodwill messages.

Gary Robinson, the chief executive of Blackburn Rovers Community Trust, offered Sammy a ground tour of Ewood Park as a birthday present to lift his spirits.

Lancashire's Chief Fire Officer Justin Johnston also wished Sam a happy birthday, as did former Premier League referee Mark Halsey.

There were plenty of other well-wishers too, with the tweet garnering more than 700 replies and 6,000 like since it was posted on Sunday afternoon.

Catherine said she was "blown away" by the response to her tweet and that Sam would be "so excited" to see all the messages when he got home from school.