Tony Mowbray is encouraged by the depth of talent in Rovers’ Academy but wonders what the right long-term step is to take.

John Buckley scored an injury-time winner to end Rovers’ six game wait for a win, with fellow Academy graduates Ryan Nyambe and Lewis Travis also starring in the win.

Darragh Lenihan is another player to have come through the ranks at the club to become a first-team regular, with Mowbray seeing promise in plenty of the current Under-23s group.

Rovers have a batch of players between the ages of 19 and 21 on the fringe of the first-team, with the club committed to their Category One status, with Mowbray revealing it was a topic of discussions with owners Venky’s.

“I went to India in the international break and spoke a lot about the academy,” he said.

“We talked about the productivity, what’s the production line like? I was saying to them, people like Dan Butterworth, Jack Vale, Sam Barnes, young players in our academy that could definitely play first-team football.

“Do we want a production line of players who we bring through and sell on? I think they are all footballers who could play first-team football but they might not be able to take us to where we want to go straight away.

“But even with six players under 20 we could have some very talented footballers in the team.

“Joe Rankin-Costello is a talented boy who just missed out on the bench but can score a goal.”

Buckley scored his first senior goal in the win over Wednesday and has made 11 first-team appearances since his debut in March.

Lewis Travis, aged 22, and 21-year-old Ryan Nyambe recently past 50 and 100 appearances and have become regulars in the side under Mowbray.

While the boss sees potential in several more young players, with Joe Rankin-Costello an unused substitute of late, he admits it has been difficult to blood them given the recent run of form that saw Rovers go six matches without a win.

“John is going to be a big player for this club,” Mowbray added.

“With the likes of Travis, Nyambe, young players that have come through that need to develop and grow.

“John Buckley is a young player we trust and believe in but it’s very difficult to give young boys when the team is struggling and not winning football matches we believe we should have.

“It’s very difficult to give young players game-time when the team is struggling or not winning football matches that we believe we should have been.”

  • Jack Vale has been named in the Wales Under-21s squad for their upcoming Euro 2021 qualifier.

The youngster is part of Paul Bodin’s 20-man squad, and will join up with the squad for the game Bosnia & Herzegovina.

The qualifier will take place at Wrexham’s Racecourse Ground on Tuesday, November 19 (4pm).

Vale was a regular for Wales at Under-17s and Under-19s level and made his Under-21s debut against Moldova in Orhei last month.

The teenager was named in the squad for the September fixtures but was forced to withdraw because of injury.

Vale has five assists in his seven Premier League 2 outings for Rovers so far this season, with the 18-year-old finding the net in a win against Southampton last month.

Meanwhile, Charlie Mulgrew has been ruled out of the Scotland squad because of injury.

The Rovers defender, currently on loan at Championship rivals Wigan, is struggling with a hamstring problem picked up in the defeat at Derby County earlier this month.

The 33-year-old, who has 44 caps for his country, has been a regular for his country since joining Rovers in 2016 but hasn’t made Steve Clarke’s squad for their upcoming games with Cyprus (November 16) and Kazakhstan (November 19).

Darragh Lenihan and Derrick Williams were both named in the provisional Republic of Ireland squad for their games with New Zealand (November 14) and Denmark (November 18).

However, Tony Mowbray has stated that Lenihan, currently sidelined by a knee problem, won’t be meeting up with the national team this month.