ROVERS boss Tony Mowbray remains an admirer of Rekeem Harper’s talents and says the red card against Crewe Alexandra is part of the teenager’s learning curve.

And Mowbray says the West Brom loanee will come back in to this thinking after serving a one match ban this weekend following his dismissal on Sunday which handed the League Two side a way back in to the match.

“I’m sure he will learn from it,” Mowbray said.

“He’s a very talented young boy but we have to put it in to context that he’s only 17, he’s not 18 until March.

“It will be part of his learning curve. What have I said to him? Nothing really, other than get on with training and when he’s ready for selection, we will get on with it. He’s among a few midfield players who when we think it is right to select him we will.

“I think he’s shown he has enough talent to impact our team but he’s still really young as a guy but I do like his attributes, I like his athleticism and his range of passing.

“We will see how much he impacts the team, he has a part to play.

“What’s infront of him is in his problem, we do have Smallwood, Evans and Whittingham and he’s finding it difficult to knock over some very experienced footballers who have been getting the job done for us.

“He’s got a lovely personality, works really hard on the training ground and I’m sure he knows he has a big future in the game.

“This period of his career is basically a learning curve for him and we will utilise him when we feel he can help the team get victories.

“We will see what January brings and what he, his advisors or West Brom who have a new manager so who is to say they don’t recall all of their loan players to have a look at them? We will see what January brings regarding Rekeem.”