MICK Rathbone has backed Ben Brereton to fire in a Rovers shirt having seen him at close quarters at club and international level.

Rathbone spent eight years at Rovers as a player before moving in to physiotherapy, a role which saw him come across Brereton during spells with England Under-19s and Nottingham Forest.

Brereton is yet to start a league game for Rovers, coming off the bench eight times, and is still waiting for his first goal.

But he has made an impact off the bench in each of the last two matches in setting up goals for Bradley Dack.

And Rathbone believes the teenager will prove to be a sound investment when his deal is made permanent in January for around £7m.

“I know the jury is out in inverted commas in these early days, but trust me, this is a great investment,” Rathbone said. “Please remember, he’s only 19 and he will get better.

“The way football is now, if Ben plays to his potential then he could be worth £30m or £40m. He’s a great signing but give him time, he’s only young.”

Brereton made his debut for England Under-19s a month before his 18th birthday and would go on to be the joint top-scorer at the European Championships in Georgia in 2017, which the Young Lions won.

Rathbone, who has recently returned to Everton to take up a position in the backroom staff, remembers Brereton’s debut against Spain in March 2017 as a game where the attacker really stood out.

“I thought it was a really interesting buy,” Rathbone continued. “I worked with Ben quite a lot.

“When I was with England Under-19s we had a really difficult qualifying game against Spain and this guy, who was only 17 but looked 30, he came to play for us and we beat them 3-0 and he was unplayable. I had never seen anything like it.

“Winning the Euros is ever so difficult to do, so winning that (tournament) was incredible.

“Ben was amazing and then I worked with at Forest and he really has got great potential.”

As well as Nottingham Forest, Rathbone also worked at Wigan Athletic who were promoted with Rovers from League One last season.

Tony Mowbray’s men went in to the international break on the back of a 1-1 draw with Rotherham United, leaving them on 26 points from 17 games.

Rovers are performing the best of the three promoted sides so far, and while looking to establish themselves back in the Championship after relegation in 2016/17, Rathbone believes getting points on the board early is key.

“Always, what a club and I’m so pleased they’re doing so well,” he said when asked if he still keeps an eye out on how his former club are faring.

“It’s hard in the Championship and you need to get your points on the board early as Rovers, and to a lesser extent, Wigan have.

“You need to get them on board before the winter sets in because you can lose a lot of games very quickly.

“I’m really pleased they’ve started well.”