ROVERS’ Academy chief Stuart Jones admitted last month that Rovers retaining Category One Academy status was pivotal to their chances of attracting top talent to the club in a competitive north west market.

That, along with the pathway to first-team football and development on offer, has helped them snare a number of players who had fallen from the tree of some Premier League giants.

Case in point is Joe Nuttall, who for someone that spent 11 years developing his talent at Manchester City to speak so glowingly about his short time at Rovers is a real compliment.

Nuttall left City at 18, and after two years north of the border, in his four months with Rovers he has allayed fears about possibly drifting out of the game to establish himself at senior level.

The 20-year-old admits a close relationship between the Under-23s and first-team at Rovers has allowed him to make the step up so seamless, and less daunting is the task when having worked with the senior players in training.

Three goals in a week in three different competitions have helped take his tally to 16 in all competitions this season across Under-23s and senior football, averaging a goal every 54 minutes on the pitch.

So just what has made the transition so easy? A sense of feeling wanted has certainly helped.

“Everything, the staff, the players, I don’t think I’ve ever been to a club and felt more at home,” Nuttall explained.

“I’ve loved every minute since I’ve come here and hopefully this is the first season of many.

“I’m learning all the time from the staff, the players here and I think I am bringing something different to the team but I’m also learning a lot from the players around me. Their experiences are helping me get through.

“I have felt a member of the Under-23s and first-team from the moment I came here.

“All the players and members of staff, no matter whether you’re Under-18s or Under-23s there’s a real togetherness at this club and I think that’s a positive for me and all of the young players because when they make the step up to the first-team they are ready and they feel comfortable. Everyone has been fantastic with me and I just hope it continues.”

Football is littered with stories of players not making the grade at some of the country’s leading sides and drifting out of the game altogether. A step, or two, backwards however, isn’t necessarily the end of the road, something Nuttall is hoping to demonstrate as he looks to forge out a career in the game.

City have been runners-up to Chelsea in each of the last three Youth Cup finals, with Nuttall not even making the squad for the 2014/15 final before his release. Players on show included Tammy Abraham, Izzy Brown, Kasey Palmer, Dominic Solanke and Kelechi Iheanacho who have all since moved from the two giants, be it permanently or on loan, in search of regular football, while several others remain solely involved in youth team football.

A realistic Nuttall said: “I think some people find it difficult (to move on) but for me, I wanted to play at first-team level.

“I felt like it was unrealistic there.

“I can’t thank them enough for what the development they gave me and I wouldn’t be there without them but I think it’s near impossible to get in to their first-team.

“That’s what I want to be doing, playing first-team football and for me it’s not been that difficult.”

Nuttall had spent time on trial at Rovers, as well as Norwich and Sunderland, after leaving City in 2015, but after three games on trial, opted for a move to Aberdeen. Two years later he was back at Ewood Park and keen to make the most of his second chance at the club.

He said: “My representatives got in touch with David Dunn and a club like Rovers, if they show interest you can’t really turn it down. It’s a big club and I hope I can be here for a long time.”

With Rovers now in the middle of an international break, Nuttall will aim to continue his scoring run, and make his first league start, at Bury this weekend.

“With the momentum I’ve got, scoring goals, I want to play as many games as possible and when the break is over I’m sure everyone will be ready,” he said. “I will be ready as well.

I think any striker has to believe that when he goes on the pitch he’s going to score.

“Any striker has to believe that they are the best player on the pitch otherwise there’s no point player, you have to have that confidence to score the goals and fortunately that’s happening at the minute for me.

“Under-23s, first-team, I’m ready and will give my best for either team, that’s the least everyone can expect from me.”