Rovers' role in the development of Tosin Adarabioyo was a key factor in Taylor Harwood-Bellis’ deadline day move.

City sanctioned the move of teenage prospect Harwood-Bellis who will spend the remainder of the season at Ewood Park, 18 months on from allowing Adarabioyo to make a similar move.

Adarabioyo starred during his time at Rovers, playing 35 times and earning a Premier League chance on the back of that, signing for Fulham where he has been an ever-present.

Harwood-Bellis, four years Adarabioyo’s junior, is keen to crack it in the Premier League, but with his parent club City, and feels Rovers is the perfect stepping stone for him to do that.

And he credits their work with other young players, as well as Adarabioyo, in making him sure that Rovers was the right move for him.

“I knew they’d got a few young players on loan and I knew that they’re at the right end of the Championship, and what they did with Tosin last year,” Harwood-Bellis told the Lancashire Telegraph.

“City said that it was a great club and that they’d got that experience of what they’d done with Tosin so they said it would be good for me to go and try and replicate that.

“He progressed and is now playing in the Premier League so hopefully I can follow in his footsteps.

“The club were really good to him, he got his opportunity and did really well.”

First, however, the 19-year-old will face a challenge to get in the Rovers side, one which has kept three clean sheets in the last four matches.

Jarrad Branthwaite, another Premier League prospect on loan at Rovers, has impressed alongside captain Darragh Lenihan, but Harwood-Bellis is confident he will take his chance whenever it comes around.

While he was always keen to get out on loan in January, it didn’t look like that would be the case until later in the window, with Harwood-Bellis admitting he could have taken the easy option of staying with the Premier League leaders for the remainder of the season.

“I want to learn my trade, get out there, get the first-team games against the big lads in this league, improve, and get those games under my belt. That’s the most important,” he added.

“At my age, as a defender, it’s hard to get first-team minutes so it’s good to get the experience and that’s what I wanted.

“I could have easily stayed and played for the Under-23s but I wanted to go and really challenge myself, go into a new environment, meet a new set of lads, and play first-team games, challenge myself.

“It would have been the easy option to have stayed at City for the rest of the season and then see what would happen in the summer, but I wanted to push myself and take that opportunity.

“I’ve never played for another club before, I wanted to go and push myself out of my comfort zone which is important for a football and to see how far you can go.”

The decision to choose Rovers, with other teams interest, was one which rested with Harwood-Bellis after seeking advice from City and his representatives,

He says other factors were crucial too, but he accepts he faces a challenge to get into the team given Rovers’ recent defensive form.

“Darragh is a great defender and Jarrad has come in and done really well,” he explained.

“I’ve watched a few games, and in training as well, and they’re top defenders who can play on the ball as well.

“I know it will be tough but there will be times when I’m needed, when maybe the formation needs to change, so there’s lots of different things.

“But as long as when I get my opportunity and I take it we’ll see where we go from there.”

While the final paperwork was being finalised on deadline day, Harwood-Bellis trained with his new team-mates on Monday and will be part of the squad bound for QPR this weekend.

And already he says he feels at home, acknowledging the decision to choose Rovers was his own.

“At the end of the day it was my choice, my career, my move, so if I had a club I wanted to go to the most I’d make that choice,” he said.

“There’s obviously advice from City, my agent, and what they would recommend, there’s a lot that goes into it, but for me, Blackburn was the right club.”