Chile boss Martin Lasarte doesn’t want to burden Ben Brereton and is keen to play down the euphoria surrounding the Rovers attacker.

Brereton has become a hero in Chile after pledging his allegiance to the country in the summer having qualified through his mother.

He starred in the Copa America, scoring on his debut in the win over Bolivia, and won five caps in all, before returning to Rovers where he has been in fine form, hitting 10 goals in his 11 Championship appearances.

Brereton was named in the Chile squad for their three World Cup qualifiers in September, but didn’t meet up with the squad as Rovers refused to release him owing to quarantine requirements upon his return.

Those issues have now been smoothed over, with the 22-year-old able to feature in all three qualifiers this month, starting with the game in Peru in the early hours of Friday morning UK time.

Brereton’s form for Rovers hasn’t gone unnoticed in Chile, with the country’s fans welcoming him back into the squad ahead of vital qualifiers in their bid to reach the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

However, national team boss Lasarte says the responsibility and expectation has to be shared around in a bid to allow Brereton to perform at his best.

He said: “Ben has done well with us but there is a euphoria that is a little bit out of proportion.

“At this moment he is very good and that is important, but he is young and in Chile he’s cutting his teeth and I don’t think it would be fair to put a lot of weight on his shoulders.

“If he plays, as we expect him to, his importance will be maximised, as will all 11 who are playing and those who are waiting.

“We all know the importance of these three fixtures, they are the most important that he will play for us, Ben has his share but it will be distributed between everyone else.”

Chile are eighth in the south American qualification table and only took one point, and scored one goal, in their three qualifiers last month.

After facing Peru, they host Paraguay on Monday and then Venezuela on Friday and bidding to improve on their tally of seven points from nine games.

Brereton formed a strong understanding with Eduardo Vargas during the Copa America, but the latter has been withdrawn from the squad because of injury.

However, the country’s record goalscorer, Alexis Sanchez, is back in the fold after missing the September fixtures.

Lasarte has been watching Brereton’s matches with Rovers closely, and says there is the prospect of using him as a central striker.

He added: “Ben has been playing as a centre forward. In the last games he has played two as a No.9 and during other moments too. His stature and characteristics makes you believe we are dealing with a centre forward as we have seen in England but also here too.

“In the Copa America Eduardo Vargas played down the middle and they complemented each other and that it is a shame now given that Eduardo is going to be absent.”