ROVERS boss Tony Mowbray believes Joe Nuttall is in the best place to maximise his potential.

Nuttall has five goals in seven games at senior level after bursting onto the scene following a goal-laden start to life at the club for the Under-23s.

The former Manchester City youngster agreed a one-year deal, with a club option for a further 12 months, in the summer, after scoring seven goals while on trial at Ewood Park.

While there are no immediate plans to extend that deal, Mowbray knows the 20-year-old will soon earn plaudits from afar should he keep scoring, but he wants the player, and the club, to develop together.

He said: “I’m a strong believer that footballers have to play and they have to see a career path and the environment is right for them to develop and grow as a player.

“Ultimately, your talent will take you where it takes you. What I believe is that right now he’s at the right place with some coaching staff who appreciate his talent and try and get the best out of it.

“Whether that’s one year, two years, five years, I believe he should just be happy to play football and then the day when the phone rings you have decisions to make.

“What I think players should do, although I’m not a football agent and they have their criteria, is to find an environment in which they are improving and they shouldn’t be in a rush to leave, they should want to maximise their potential at their club and realise it’s only talent that gets you moves.

“If Joe keeps scoring goals at the rate he is then the phone will ring and we will have to decide whether we offer him a new deal or do we take the money and find another striker that is better so we take that and spend half on that player? Football is a business.”

Mowbray saw Connor Mahoney leave Ewood for Bournemouth in the summer at the end of his contract.

The 20-year-old has yet to play a competitive minute for the Cherries and the Rovers boss is keen to avoid Nuttall going down the same path.

The Rovers boss added: “The (Connor) Mahoney situation was out of my control when I got here, hopefully we don’t get to that scenario, hopefully there’s some common sense. But what I would say is that he’s still only a young boy who’s scored only a handful of goals in our first-team, scored a lot of goals for the Under-23s and is not the finished article.

“He’s a level headed kid, he’s been away and wants to get his career going, didn’t see a career path at Manchester City and went to Aberdeen. It didn’t work out for whatever reason but he’s back here starting again, very humble, he’s now breaking into our first-team.

“I’m sure he will remain humble and understand it’s a journey that he’s on and his talent will take him where it takes him but he can help Blackburn Rovers back into the Championship, keep progressing and help get us out of that league as well.”

On Nuttall’s journey from trialist to first team star, Mowbray added: “We were in Austria when he played his first game and Damien (Johnson) phoned me and said they had a lad in on trial who had scored a hat-trick and they liked him and we should be trying to sign him.

“I trusted Damien’s professionalism and understanding of the game and said if you like him that much then we should progress it if he’s done that well.

“When I got back from Austria just to see the size of him and his movement, the way he moves across the pitch, he’s not a big awkward centre forward he’s smooth and agile.

“I’m delighted he signed a deal, delighted he’s here and hopefully we can help him and he can help us be successful.

“I have had chats with him and I think he feels really comfortable here, he feels as if it’s a good club with people who are trying to help him develop.

“The fact he knows where the net is, works hard and has wonderful physical attributes are what has pushed him forward and let’s see where it takes us.

“We should not just be judging him on the few months he’s been at the football club we should judge him on the longer term and hopefully the progression he’s achieving can keep going on an upward curve.”