FANS like to look in to pre-season team selections to try and work out who will start on the opening day of the season, writes Simon Garner.

But as a player, you just hope to play as many minutes as you can.

You want to start as many games as possible to be in with a shout of being on the team-sheet for the opening game of the campaign.

I don’t think Tony Mowbray will know his best team as of yet and you have to make allowances for things like injuries, and new signings, which are bound to happen.

He will also be looking for who is in form, and as a player, the one thing you hope for is that when you are in form you will be given a chance in the team.

With Mowbray having come before the end of last season the players will be getting used to his formations and how he is wanting his team to play.

It should not take him long to do that and I would think with the sort of man he is that it is not difficult for him to get his message across quickly.

You do get used to how he is looking for you to play and pick it up quite quickly.

You don’t want a manager who just sits in his office all day and sends his coaches out to do the work on the training pitch – you want someone who is hands-on, as Mowbray is.

For the young players who travelled to Austria, it will have been a great experience for them to be among the first-team players.

Trips away are serious work, but one thing they are also good for is team bonding and you can gain a lot of experience from being around that environment.

They will have also seen this as a chance to try and get in the first-team squad and have something to aim for.

I just hope with any young player that if they are good enough then they get a chance.

Particularly teams like Blackburn, they need to be looking to give their young players a chance.

England have had a lot of success at youth level this summer. 

But if you went through the team then they will have hardly played regularly first-team football, and most of the football they will have played will have been out on loan.

It was good to see Rovers face Europa League opposition in Sparta Prague out in Salzburg.

During my time at the club we had a few trips to Sweden but we mainly just played against local side.

Blackburn are still a big draw and are able to attract games such as the Sparta Prague friendly, and that is so much better.

As former Premier League champions, although a while ago, they have that name abroad.

It does help playing opposition like that. If you can put up a good show against opposition that play at a higher level than you then it will give the players a boost.