THESE are dark days for Blackburn Rovers but on Saturday there at least was a ray of light; one which must continue to flicker long after Venky’s are gone.

The confirmation before kick-off that Scott Wharton would be making his senior debut lifted the mood of a set of supporters who have reached the end of their tether with the club’s absent owners.

And, after seeing their side let their first league victory of the season slip from their grasp, they could also take heart from the 18-year-old’s performance.

Wharton was a credit to himself and to Jack Walker’s greatest legacy, the Rovers Academy, which is and must remain the lifeblood of the club.

The Blackburn-born centre-back did not put a foot wrong until he was outmuscled by Tom Naylor for Burton’s late leveller.

It was not a disastrous error – the non-existent pressing and tracking for Jackson Irvine’s goal was – but it was one which was duly punished.

But it also one which we should expect Wharton to be making at this stage of his career and one, in all honesty, he should be making away from Rovers, out on loan at a club lower down the Football League.

But a lack of investment in a squad which, with five senior players unavailable, is stretched to breaking point, the Salesbury teenager was thrown in at the deep end.

And Wharton managed to swim.

But, while he should now get further opportunities to impress, that must not prevent Venky’s from entering the transfer market before the window closes. At least three or four new signings are needed.

However for many supporters they are past waiting on the Rao family to run the club the way they want it to be.

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That was not particularly reflected in vocal protests on Saturday. ‘We want Venky’s out’ was sung throughout but not across the board.

Instead the most vociferous chants were reserved for the man who built the Academy with ‘one Jack Walker’ and ‘Uncle Jack’s Barmy Army’ ringing out around a third-full Ewood Park.

Indeed the biggest indicator of the fans’ unhappiness was the worryingly low attendance.

Owen Coyle team’s showings in the opening three league matches will not have helped, of course.

But the biggest issue here are Venky’s.

That said it did not stop the supporters who made their way to the ground through the rain from giving Rovers their full backing.

They in turn were rewarded with an improved performance. Not great, by any means, but certainly better than the ones produced against Cardiff City, Wigan Athletic and Norwich City.

It was not, however, good enough to beat a promoted Burton side who were there for the taking after man-of-the-match Craig Conway opened the scoring and his account for the campaign with a wonderful strike – and after the similarly impressive Sam Gallagher headed Rovers back in front with his first goal for the club.

But on each occasion Rovers lacked the confidence to kill off their opponents and the ease at which they can be opened up, exemplified by Irvine’s equaliser, is a huge concern.

They have now conceded 11 goals in four league games, more than any club in the top four divisions.

Unless that statistic improves they will remain rooted to the bottom, looking up at teams like Burton who, before Venky’s arrived on the scene six years, fans would never have dreamed of facing, let alone having to find small mercies in matches against them.

Wharton’s excellent display, though, certainly was one.