Ben Brereton’s talent has never been questioned by Tony Mowbray but he believes his Copa America exploits with Chile have brought about a new-found confidence.

Brereton scored twice in the friendly draw with Bolton Wanderers where his every touched was cheered by the 1,200 travelling support. It was a first 90 minutes of pre-season for Brereton 10 days after returning to Brockhall after his exploits on the international stage.

His story has hit the headlines and brought a spotlight on the 22-year-old, and Mowbray says an extra maturity, not any increase in his talent, has been behind Brereton’s rise.

And he is hoping that continues in Rovers colours for the upcoming Championship season.

“He’s confident, he’s had a lot of attention, he’s always been a brilliant kid, I’ve tried to stress that,” Mowbray said.

“He’s 22 now, he’s been here three years and he’s maturing. He’s always had talent, it’s not as though he’s gone to the Copa America and someone has injected him with a lot of talent, that’s always been there.

“He’s just had to get used to the physicality week in, week out and I think that’s coming with age.

“Ben will get stronger, he’ll keep developing and hopefully the confidence of going away and playing for Chile will be a great confidence booster for him.

“For us it’ll be frustrating for us that’s he’s going to be flying half way around the world and then expected to come back and perform for us so let’s see how that evolves for us, but delighted he’s doing well.”

Mowbray had his first-choice front three on the pitch for half an hour at Bolton, with Sam Gallagher making his first appearance of pre-season, with the game only a second outing for Brereton.

It was a case of feast or famine infront of goal for Rovers last season, but Mowbray was encouraged by the first goal at Bolton, Gallagher’s header tapped in by Brereton, with both players inside the six yard box, despite being the wider of the three attacking players.

His second goal, a neat left foot finish across the goalkeeper, was a sweet strike and ensured Rovers didn’t finish pre-season with two defeats to lower league opposition.

“That comes with confidence, he’s always had talent, it’s about getting him in goalscoring areas,” Mowbray added.

“Gallagher got into a goalscoring position, I thought Sam had scored, both my wide strikers are between the posts, where we need them and where we want them.

“It was something we did a lot of work on and we managed to score a lot of goals in those final games when we had the availability of Gallagher, Brereton and Armstrong.

“The season is almost upon us, let’s see what this week brings us in terms of potential signings.

“If not, we’ll prepare for Swansea with the group we had.”

As for Brereton, he is looking to build on his displays in the Copa America in Rovers colours.

He hit seven goals last season, but adding to his productivity levels are his main aim for the upcoming season.

“I’m looking to build on last season and adding some goals and assists to my game and hopefully be more consistent, more wins and good performances,” said Brereton, who is looking to add ‘Diaz’ to the back of his shirt for this season.

“The set of lads we’ve got are great, hopefully we get some more in and the young lads have shown what they can do when they come in.”