Rovers got an early look at possible loan targets when they hosted Liverpool Under-23s on Monday night.

The two clubs have fostered a close relationship during Tony Mowbray’s time in charge, and their friendly in June helped further that which then brought about the loan signing of Harvey Elliott on deadline day in October.

That was despite the lack of intention of Liverpool to send the teenager out on loan, but Rovers put forward their case. Six goals, 11 assists and 37 appearances later, it’s a move that’s worked out for all parties.

It has been made clear that Rovers will likely have to go down the route of loaning players again next season, and they finish this campaign with three teenage Premier League prospects on their books.

Elliott caught the eye of Rovers in the Anfield friendly in June, but the scorer of Liverpool’s sixth goal in that game was midfielder Leighton Clarkson.

“He got it in the No.6 position where he is calm, turns and passes the ball out,” Jurgen Klopp said of his performance, and by then, Clarkson had already made his first-team debut for Liverpool, that coming in the Carabao Cup in December 2019 against Aston Villa, before making his first start the following month in an FA Cup replay against Shrewsbury Town.

East Lancashire born, and a Rovers fan, it has fuelled talk that he could be the next Reds youngster to make a loan move to Ewood Park.

He is highly-regarded by the current Premier League champions, signing a long-term contract in 2020, and was most recently on the bench for their Champions League quarter final second leg draw with Real Madrid earlier this month.

The 19-year-old has already made his debut in that competition, clocking up 90 minutes against FC Midtjylland in December and he has made the bench for two Premier League fixtures.

It was Premier League 2 action that Clarkson came up against his boyhood club, playing 90 minutes in his favoured defensive midfield role. Looking to dominate the play as part of a double pivot in midfield, there were cries of ‘get Leighton on it’ as the visitors looked to build from the back.

Diminutive in stature, he doesn’t lack a competitive edge or shy away from responsibility. He dropped into the defensive line at times to make a back three, his passing a mix of short and long range, but more often than not, forward. That was a key facet of his game that stood out, a willingness to always play the ball forward, and not take the easy option.

Understandably, that didn’t always bring success, and wasn’t without risk. He almost cost his side when the impressive Jake Garrett robbed him of possession in the early stages before breaking forward on goal, only to be denied by a fine save.

And indeed Garrett, a second year scholar at Rovers, is the one player who most stood out, and his displays since breaking into the side and becoming a regular infront of the back four have offered real promise.

Liverpool, at times, failed to stem the flow of the Rovers attacks, gaps opening up in the centre of the pitch, and it twice Isaac Whitehall was able to break into the box to finish of moves to score.

But as the hosts began to tire late on, that offered the Reds a chance to find an equaliser.

That came from Clarkson, who while wearing the No.6 on his back and most often found patrolling the centre circle, he did have licence to get forward. That had seen him have mixed success until his 87th minute equaliser, a side-foot effort across the Rovers box finding the bottom corner, and with it, handing Manchester City the Premier League 2 title.

Even despite Rovers’ success in Premier League 2 this season, having been Man City’s closest challengers all season and sitting second, it is likely a route of loans that Rovers will take from other club’s Academies.

Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Jarrad Branthwaite had both played in Premier League 2 this season prior to their Ewood moves, and coming up against the best Academies in the country gives Rovers a chance to assess players first hand.

As for their own, well they have made excellent progress, and while it may be viewed too soon to break into the Rovers side for some, others will have eyes on making their mark out on loan next term.

For Clarkson, at 19, he will feel the time is now to try his hand out on loan. It's not a route Liverpool have always taken with their young players, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Curtis Jones a case in point, but others, such as Nat Phillips and Elliott have done so.

It remains to be seen whether the Championship will be too much too soon, where he wouldn't be afforded the time and space he'll have had in many Premier League 2 outings. There will have been the same concerns about Elliott, though his ceiling in the game is undeniably higher.