LEWIS Mansell notched his 23rd goal of the season as Blackburn Rovers drew 1-1 at Reading in the Under-18 Premier League on Saturday.

Rovers went into the game on the back of a four-match losing run which included two defeats to Chelsea in the FA Youth Cup semi-finals.

MORE TOP STORIES:

But they halted that sequence of results with a well-deserved point against the Royals.

After a slow start Rovers went in front in the 27th minute through their top-scorer.

Stefan Mols got in behind the Reading defence and cut the ball back for Mansell to finish off a counter-attack move.

But the lead was cancelled out in the 42nd minute after Andy Fisher picked up a back pass from Joe Grayson.

Axel Andresson fired in the resultant fee kick and the Royals wasted a golden opportunity to win it late on.

But that would have been harsh on Billy Barr’s side who themselves could have taken all three points through Mansell and Tre Pemberton.

“In the first half we struggled to get to grips with the way Reading were playing,” said Ian Jones, who is assistant to Rovers U18s lead coach Barr.

“But we were really pleased with the way the lads performed in the second half.

“Again we had a young side with nine first-year scholars involved, it gives us a really good platform to build on.”

Rovers welcome West Ham United to Brockhall on Wednesday (11am).