Tony Mowbray says there is pressure on Ben Brereton to perform after the attacker netted his fourth goal of the season in the win over Hull City.

Brereton is only three goals short of the seven he managed across the whole of last season after a fine start to the campaign, including a fine strike in Tuesday’s win over the Tigers.

That came as he led the line in the absence of Sam Gallagher, who missed out with a thigh issue, while Rovers failed to replace Adam Armstrong after last season’s top scorer was sold to Southampton.

“There’s a lot of pressure on him to produce and he himself is only a young boy at 22-years of age,” Mowbray said of the Chile international.

“He has the quality to produce for this club, in my eyes and he’s shown that this season. I don’t want to say, ‘I told you so’, but it was just a matter of time for Ben to grow into a player, but we did sign him as an 18-year-old boy.

“He’s such a diamond of a kid, such a hard-worker and a great human being who’s not getting carried away with his international achievements.

“He comes into training every day with a smile on his face and works hard with the lads to try and improve. I’m really pleased for him that he’s having the level of success because the talent has always been there. Improving as a footballer is all about having a growth mindset, to be honest.

“That’s what Ben does, he comes in and wants to watch all his clips from the previous game and he’ll acknowledge where he went wrong or could have improved, and he’ll go out on the grass and work towards bettering himself. You naturally want people with that mindset to succeed and that’s why I’m so happy for him.”

Brereton was signed for £6m from Nottingham Forest and endured a difficult first couple of seasons, but has since grown into a regular starter, with extra focus on his performances following his achievements with the Chilean national team.

“Ben would have felt the criticism that came his way over the past few years, but it’s not his fault that I paid big money to bring him here. He’s just a young boy who comes in every day and gives his best for Blackburn Rovers,” Mowbray added.

“I’m just pleased for him that he’s getting international recognition and has scored a few goals for our club. Ben has always had a growth mindset, as I’ve said.

“He’s always wanted to improve since day one and he was always going to do that if he continues working hard and reviewing his games. I’m pretty sure he will get better and will one day make it into the Premier League.

“I hope that’ll be with this club, but if not, I’m pretty sure we will make a profit on what we bought him for initially.”