Tayo Edun believes the upward trajectory of his career justified his decision to leave tomorrow night’s opponents Fulham after a decade with the club.

Edun will make his eighth Rovers appearance against his former employers, moving ahead of the number he made during his time at Craven Cottage having signed as a schoolboy.

The 23-year-old earned England Under-19 honours and made seven appearances for Fulham before departing in January 2020 but his ambition has always been to get back to playing at the highest level possible.

He feels a move to Rovers has allowed him to do that, with Edun having made a promising start to his Ewood Park career.

He first came to Tony Mowbray’s attention during an Under-23s clash at Leyland where Edun was locked in a midfield battle with Lewis Travis in 2017, but it’s at left back that he’s set to line up against free-scoring Fulham.

“I signed when I was just starting secondary school, and I left at 21,” Edun said of his time with the Cottagers.

“I felt like I was getting to the age where I hadn’t had enough first-team exposure.

“That’s really what I was desperate for when I left Fulham and I felt it was the right time and it’s turned out to be the right decision for me.

“Even going to Lincoln I always said that I wanted to be back in the Championship as soon as possible. Being here now it’s about proving that I am ready for this level and being ready to kick on.”

Edun also scored against Rovers on the opening day of the 2017/18 season during his time with Ipswich Town, where he also made seven appearances.

Fulham arrive at Ewood second in the table and averaging over two goals a game. Star man Aleksandar Mitrovic has found the net eight times in his last four games to take his tally to 18, and Edun says Rovers are well aware of the challenge they face and ready to meet it head on.

He added: “I feel you know what to expect from Fulham, some good players on the ball from back to front and they manage the ball well and create a lot of chances.

“It’s a different type of football to the Premier League, they have had to make some adjustments, but you know they’re going to be a solid team and we have to be prepared for that.

“It’s the challenge we need to be ready for if we’re going to compete this season and we need to be on the front foot.

“It won’t define our season, but if we can go and challenge Fulham then I’m sure it will give us a lot of confidence against other teams.”

Victory over Derby County made it back-to-back wins for only the second time in 2021 for Rovers who remain in top six contention a third of the way through the season.

Edun feels there are lessons to learn from the second half at Pride Park where they almost let another two-goal lead slip, but saw plenty of positive signs from the first half display.

“We’re happy, two wins on the bounce now,” he said.

“First half was probably as good as we’ve been this season, from what I’ve seen, really positive but we haven’t got ahead of ourselves, the boys have been speaking of how we can see out the game better and how we could have managed that second half better, because I think there is a lot to work on from that point of view.

“It’s still early in the season so two wins can do a lot for your league position.

“We back ourselves and as you’ve seen it’s very tight, two wins have shot us right back up there. It’s about trying to keep that momentum.”