TWENTY years on from making his Rovers debut, Damien Johnson is hoping to use his experiences as a player to help nurture the club’s next crop promising youngsters.

A shaggy-haired 18-year-old back in September 1997, Johnson was handed his Rovers bow by then Ewood manager Roy Hodgson in the second leg of the league cup tie against neighbours Preston North End.

He had to wait almost a year until his next senior appearance for the club, having been loaned out Nottingham Forest, so knows all too well the process of trying to make the grade at Ewood.

“It makes me feel old but looking back now it doesn’t seem that long ago,” Johnson, now manager of Rovers’ Under-23s, said.

“Thinking back, I can remember it very clearly, Preston away, second leg, we had won the first leg 6-0 so Roy Hodgson had the opportunity to mix things up.

“It wasn’t the best of games (Rovers lost 1-0) but I enjoyed the experience and it was a terrific occasion.

“People say your career goes in a flash and it really does and that’s why I’m trying to tell the lads to enjoy it.

“I have some great memories from those days. It was a terrific experience for a young lad.”

Johnson arrived at Rovers as a 16-year-old in 1995 on a YTS deal and learned his trade in the years following the Premier League title win. A daunting experience, but Johnson said the support he received was ‘second to none’, helped by the facilities at Brockhall.

He added: “In terms of looking after players, the family atmosphere and the feel at Blackburn, I have never experienced a club like it.

“You come as an 16-year-old from Ireland and Jack Walker knew everyone’s name, and Kenny Dalglish, everyone made you feel special and that’s why I feel so privileged to be back here.

“I got my education here, in terms of football, and I’m eternally grateful for that and everything I achieved is down to that.”

Johnson’s playing days saw him make 388 appearances for six clubs before hanging up his boots in 2014. The following year he was named as Rovers Under-23s manager, four months after returning to the club initially as Under-14s boss. It is a job he loves, and he hopes to use his experiences to inspire a next generation of talent at the club, with six of his current crop having been handed their senior debuts already this season.

He added: “In terms of development, the stage they are at now is the hardest stage.

“I’m not saying that they have had it easy up to now but the jump from the Under-23s to first-team is the hardest bit.

“Everything has progressed, and now they are the point when the progression isn’t as quick and it’s not a case of playing a few games and then you get moved up.

“Often it’s not just about making one first-team appearance it’s about how many can you get and we know the challenges.

“We just try and help them so our experiences do help a little bit but ultimately it’s about their attitude and their mentality to it.”

Up next is start of their Premier League 2 Cup campaign with a home game against Cardiff City tonight.

Johnson added: “The games are then an opportunity, especially the home games in which the manager comes to watch, for them to show that development and what they’re learning in front of him and keep trying to impress and produce performances that are improving.

“They know that they still have a long way to go but they are moving in the right direction.”