FORMER Rovers forward Kevin Stonehouse has backed Tony Mowbray’s men to finish the job and earn promotion from League One this season.

Twenty nine years ago Stonehouse joined Rovers and scored his first two goals for the club in a 2-1 win over Gillingham which ignited Howard Kendall’s side’s season and eventually saw them finish second behind Grimsby and secured an instant return to the second tier.

That is something the Rovers class of 2018 are trying to emulate this term and they visit Priestfield three points clear of Wigan and Shrewsbury although both have games in hand on Mowbray’s men.

But Stonehouse, 58, is confident of another three points on the south coast and a promotion party come May.

“I do think Rovers will go up,” said the former Ewood ace who is now a scout at Newcastle United.

“Tony Mowbray has done a great job there. They have a lot of good players and I think Mowbray has got them all playing in a system where everyone knows their jobs.

“The year we went up we had a lot of 1-0 wins or wins by one goal and the organisation is crucial in that.

“It has also been good to see Mowbray give the youngsters a little taste of it, the likes of (Ryan) Nyambe and (Lewis) Travis have come in and done well.

“That is similar to what Howard did with me when I first started, I didn’t play much in my first season but he gave me a chance here and there. I didn’t have any first team experience and sometimes that can help you, having players like that who have no fear can be a benefit.”

Stonehouse’s brace in the 1979 win over Gillingham were his first goals in the Football League.

“It will take some forgetting,” he said of his double. “I remember it really well. I had only made my debut a couple of weeks before.

“I had been on a pre-season tour with Rovers to Holland when John Pickering was the manager and then he got sacked and Howard came in as player-manager.

“He decided to sign me and it was great to be able to play with such a great player and work with him.

“We hadn’t had a very good start to the season and we went down to Gillingham under a bit of pressure but we managed to get the win and they were my first league goals.

“My family didn’t get to see it as it was a long way for them to travel and there were no highlights in those days so you had to make do with the pictures.

“After that I was in and out of the team but we had a really good squad that year and there was only one sub so to be in the matchday 12 was an achievement in itself.”

Stonehouse made six appearances that term with his double at Gillingham the only goals he scored. The next season was a more prolific return for the frontman as he topped the Rovers scoring charts with 11 in all competitions as Kendall’s men missed out on a second successive promotion on goal difference.

“It was a shame we couldn’t get over the line and into the top-flight that year,” Stonehouse, who played for Middlesbrough as a schoolboy and arrived at Ewood after spells in non-league, added. “I remember scoring the winner at Bristol Rovers on the last day of the season and it was really strange because we had won the game but not gone up.

“That shows the momentum you can build though and Rovers could do something similar if they get promoted this season. It would be great to see them back in the Championship.

“They are a big club and it is one of the first results I look out for.

“Winning promotion with Rovers was a highlight for me and hopefully they can do it again this year.”