ROVERS Under-23s started their Premier League 2 Division Two campaign in an impressive, and emphatic fashion, as they thrashed Wolves 5-1 at Ewood Park on Monday.

Summer signing Joe Nuttall scored a hat-trick, with Joe Rankin-Costello and Lewis Hardcastle also on target as Damien Johnson’s men started the new season with an excellent display.

They could well have scored more than the five they did in the pouring rain, with the one downside being the 70th minute goal conceded from Christian Herc to make it 4-1, 20 minutes from time.

Rovers raced in to a 2-0 lead, and boss Damien Johnson was particularly delighted with their intensity from the first whistle.

“We had a good start to the game.  Our intention is always to start well and play with an intensity and tempo and we did that,” he said.

“We got in their faces, made it difficult for them and we pressed high.  The front three caused them problems.

“It was good to get a goal after starting well because sometimes that’s been missing for us.

“Thankfully we got in to good areas, put good balls in to the box and the goal came early.”

Wolves pressed hard at the beginning of the second half, but two goals in as many minutes from Joe Nuttall, who scored from the spot in the first-half, enabled him to grab his hat-trick, and Rovers to build up an unassailable lead.

Johnson added: “We knew that they would start (the second half) fast and come out of the traps.

“That’s almost the risk, at 2-0 the next goal is always vital in any game.

“Thankfully we weathered a bit of pressure early in the second half and we always looked a threat.

“Our front three and wide players, we looked like we were going to cause them problems every time we went forward.”

Rankin-Costello opened the scoring after four minutes, tapping home at the far post after Stefan Mols had seen his shot saved.

Nuttall doubled the advantage from the spot after he had been fouled, with the third was much of his own making, chasing down a long ball, having the strength to hold off the chasing defender, and the presence of mind to lift his shot over the advancing keeper.

And the game was just 55 minutes old when he wrapped up his hat-trick, slotting home a Mols cut-back from 12 yards.

Christian Herc then reduced the arrears, but four minutes later, and having gone close three times before, Lewis Hardcastle thundered in an effort from the edge of the box to round off an impressive start to the campaign for Johnson’s men.

Rovers: Fisher, C Doyle, Platt, Grayson, J Doyle, Travis, Hardcastle, Tomlinson, Mols (Butterworth, 63), Rankin-Costello, Nuttall (Mansell, 72)