Rovers among Championship's best for Under-23s minutes

The commitment to the inclusion of Academy players hasn’t been one to simply keep that run going either, with Ryan Nyambe, Darragh Lenihan and Lewis Travis all regulars in the side, with Joe Rankin-Costello and John Buckley coming through as well.

The loan market was used extensively last season, including the additions of teenager’s Harvey Elliott (Liverpool), Jarrad Branthwaite (Everton) and Taylor Harwood-Bellis (Manchester City), and their involvement in the same game at Nottingham Forest in February led to Rovers naming the youngest side in the division across the season.

The average age on that afternoon was 22.8, with all three teenage loanees featuring in a side that was captained by 24-year-old Adam Armstrong.

Only four teams had a squad with a lower average than Rovers, one which has since lost the experience of Stewart Downing, Lewis Holtby, Corry Evans and Charlie Mulgrew and possibly Elliott Bennett, the retention of Bradley Johnson meaning he’s the only player aged over 30 currently on the club’s books.

The average age of the 32 players used by Rovers in 2020/21 was 24.9 and there is the prospect that will be even younger next terms.

Only Barnsley, Reading and Huddersfield handed fewer minutes to players aged 23 or under.

The 19,777 minutes was the fourth most in the Championship, with Elliott featuring in every game after signing on loan from Liverpool.

While his numbers, and those of Harwood-Bellis and Branthwaite, will boost that figure, the positive for Rovers is the majority of those were by players who came the Brockhall Academy, supplemented by the likes of Ben Brereton.

A table conducted by Prospect Watch also showed that if only goals or assists of players aged 23 or younger were taken into consideration then Rovers would have been third in the standings, helped by the contributions of Armstrong prior to his February birthday, and Elliott.