AT ROVERS, making the step up from the Academy to first team is not just a metaphorical phrase.

The club’s senior training base at their Brockhall home is just a few hundred yards up the road from the Academy centre, but its connotations are vast.

Countless players have trodden that particular path during their time at Blackburn, and the latest batch could well be looked at to provide some hope amidst the gloom of relegation.

Rovers Under-18s class of 2015/16 reached the FA Youth Cup semi-final, while this year’s group made the end of season elite play-offs after finishing fourth in the regular campaign behind Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool.

Out of that former group, Ryan Nyambe is the one who has had the quickest rise to fame, making 25 Championship appearances on the way to being crowned as the club’s young player of the year.

But the first was Salesbury-born Scott Wharton,who made four first-team appearances in the early weeks of the season.

The 2016/17 campaign ended with him gaining valuable experience out on loan at League Two Cambridge United and the defender, who captained the Under-18s in that run to the Youth Cup final four in 2016, believes the club is in safe hands with the latest crop of youngsters.

He said: “Ryan has done really well this year and there’s a lot of young players at the club who can potentially do well if they get a good pre-season behind them.

“There’s no reason why we can’t be pushing to get in to the first team – that’s what we have to do.

“There is a pathway, it’s always been a good Academy so we all have to keep going and look to push on.

“I’ll be looking for exactly the same. If you get a good pre-season under your belt then you are certainly looking to push for the first team.”

Wharton enjoyed a productive pre-season last summer under Owen Coyle, with the departure of club captain Grant Hanley and injuries to other first team defenders handing him his chance.

And it’s one he’s hoping he, and the club’s other young players, will be afforded again this summer.

He added: “I came in to pre-season strong, fit and ready to go.

“I had a good pre-season, a few injuries to some of the senior players helped me.

“I was playing in the friendlies, which helped me massively, and at the start of the season I had my chance to prove myself and I felt I did all right.

“As a young player that’s something you’re looking for.”

Wharton made his Rovers debut in August, starting in the 2-2 draw with Burton alongside Gordon Greer in central defence.

Shane Duffy was his partner in the EFL Cup win against Crewe three days later, with Wharton scoring his first senior goal in the 4-3 triumph. One more Championship appearance followed, the 4-2 win against Rotherham United, and one more as a substitute in the EFL Cup against Leeds United at Elland Road.

But when Rovers were knocked out of the Checkatrade Trophy at the group stage, with Wharton featuring in all three games, and with returns to fitness of senior central defenders, he slipped down the first team picture.

Charlie Mulgrew and Darragh Lenihan established themselves as the club’s first-choice partnership and Wharton would feature in just one more matchday squad before being loaned out in the January transfer window to Cambridge United to gain valuable senior experience in the EFL.

Wharton said a loan move was not something he had pushed for, but he was more than happy to agree to the request which he says he would recommend to any young player.

“At the time I was playing for the Under-23s and had done well at the start of the season for the first team, but had just filtered back down,” he explained. “Owen Coyle was manager and one morning early in January he called me in to his office and said the staff had been talking and wanted to send me out on loan as they felt it would be a good experience.

“But I was thinking about it.

“Cambridge were interested at the time, they seemed the most eager, but I didn’t know anyone at Cambridge.

“Walking in to a new dressing room was a new experience, especially as a young lad.

“I was nervous going down, but I really enjoyed it.”

League Two was no easy baptism for Wharton, who was an unused substitute in Cambridge’s first two games after he joined.

He was handed his chance in the 1-0 defeat to Plymouth Argyle on February 4, playing again the following week, but it was three more weeks before he would cement his place in the starting line-up alongside Leon Legge.

So just what did he learn during his time at the Abbey Stadium?

“It’s a very physical league, some very big forwards,” he said.

“My final game was against Wycombe and (Adebayo) Akinfenwa – I’d never come up against anyone like him playing in the Academy. As a centre-half you have to be physical because you come up against some big, strong centre-forwards and it was a good experience for me.”

Cambridge were pushing hard for a League Two play-off place in the second half of the season, but things were becoming increasingly difficult for Rovers.

Coyle, who initially handed Wharton his chance at Ewood Park, was replaced by Tony Mowbray and despite an upturn in form, they were relegated to League One on the final day of the season. Wharton watched the win at Brentford on the television and said: “It was difficult to watch as a fan as well.”

But he said Cambridge’s plight was his main concern during the second half of the season.

“I was just focussing on myself though at Cambridge, we had a job to do and that was to try and get in the play-offs. Unfortunately we just missed out.

“We were fighting in every game, we put a couple of good runs together but had a few disappointing results which, if we could have got a few better results, we could have made the play-offs.”