Tayo Edun says conversations with manager Tony Mowbray prior to his signing made it clear he would be competing for a spot at both left-back and midfield.

Edun was the positive from the Blackpool defeat when operating from the left flank as Mowbray moved to 4-4-2 following Sam Gallagher’s withdrawal.

The 23-year-old’s primary position at Lincoln City, who he joined Rovers from for a fee in the region of £500,000 on deadline day, was at left-back but his three appearances to date have all come further forward.

That is owing much to the form of January signing Harry Pickering who has slotted in well on the left side of the Rovers defence, but Edun says he always new it would not be an easy task to break into the side.

“The manager explained the plan and how the team was and what he thought about me and how I could help the team,” Edun said. “I will compete in both positions to try and get in the team but I think last year I was effective at left-back.”

Edun was Rovers’ sole permanent signing of the summer, and also the oldest, despite only being 23, but also an unexpected one.

He has had a small taste of Championship football during a loan spell at Ipswich Town in 2018, scoring in the opening day draw with Rovers, and he feels he’s in a better place to crack it in the second tier after his experiences with the Imps.

Under Michael Appleton, Lincoln reached the play-off final last season, only to miss out to Blackpool, with a number of their loan recruits, as well as Edun, having now moved on.

Appleton assembled a young crop of players at Sincil Bank, and Edun has joined a similarly inexperienced group at Rovers, but he sees positives in that.

He said: “From when I came in, you can tell by faces, never mind by speaking to people, I just knew instantly that it was a pretty young group but has a lot of positives, everyone is hungry and everyone has a lot to prove.

“If you look at my time at Ipswich, also in the Championship, I feel I have learned a lot since then. I have a growth mindset and the experiences from Lincoln I can use in this period.

“The quality of player is good, mentally you have to be a lot sharper because the players are ahead of the game and you have to think quicker on and off the ball.”

Edun came through the ranks at Fulham but it was at Lincoln where he got his breakthrough chance, starring for the Imps in his 18 months at Sincil Bank.

And he admits that move in January 2020 was pivotal to him, buying into Lincoln’s model of signing young players and giving them the platform to succeed.

He said: “I had to sit down with them before I went there and the conversation was that’s what kind of club they are and that’s what I needed for my career.

“I want to push on and kick on and I felt going there and trusting them to prepare me for the next step which they did do.”

Speaking of Edun in the wake of the Blackpool defeat, Mowbray said: “Tayo is a good player, that’s why we signed him and the new signings such as Tayo, (Ian) Poveda, (Leighton) Clarkson, (Reda) Khadra and (Jan Paul) van Hecke all have to try and force their way into this team.

“Tayo didn’t do his chances any harm.

“I thought he competed extremely well and although he’s a very technical player, he’s very combative as well.

“We played him off the left where Ben had been playing in order to try and create a balance which is what football is about.”