Billy Barr heaped praise on his players for continuing to punch above their weight in Premier League 2.

Rovers Under-23s went back into second spot despite being denied all three points by a late Liverpool equaliser at Leyland. That meant the title went to Manchester City who Rovers can’t now catch with three games remaining.

But sitting second, and to have taken four points off champions City and being their closest challengers, has left Barr delighted with what he’s seen from a group of players which has got younger as the season has gone on.

Two Isaac Whitehall goals twice put them ahead, only to be denied by a Ben Woodburn strike early in the first half, before a second equaliser three minutes from time from Leighton Clarkson.

“We are the smallest club in this league financially and our biggest strength is our togetherness and our work rate,” Barr explained.

“It’s taken a lot of lads to a better level from the one they were at.

“We’ll keep working with them, keep developing them and they’re all in a really good place.

“The group’s getting younger and that’s the way it’ll be. That’s the challenge for the younger players.

“Not everyone will get as many games as they’d like, but it’s about giving opportunities and seeing if they can take it.”

While Barr has kept his focus on player development, the squad have maintained a desire to push for the title.

Those hopes have now ended, but with just four defeats all season, and being disappointed at not beating Liverpool, Barr says that’s a mark of his players’ attitude.

He added: “The players are disappointed to have drawn with Liverpool and that tells you how far we’ve come.

“We sat back late on, invited the pressure and that was the problem.

“It was a shot across goal that’s gone in and we’re disappointed with that.

“But, as we’ve said plenty of times before, we’re happy with the display and happy with the development shown by our young group.

“It’s a long time since we suffered back-to-back defeats and I think the lads deserve a lot of credit for that.”

While the players were disappointed, Barr certainly wasn’t.

“I’m happy with what I saw and I’ve mentioned to them how they shouldn’t be down about not winning the game,” he said.

“The performance was good, we had a lot of chances and we could have made it a bit better with that final pass, that final decision.

“But, overall, I’m happy with what I saw.”