Preston's loss has undoubtedly been Rovers’ gain with Tyrhys Dolan, but Tony Mowbray says the player deserves all of the credit for his rise since arriving at Ewood Park.

Dolan played against Rovers for North End in an FA Youth Cup in February 2020 and a few months would later would be signing for the club, and within weeks he’d make his mark on the first-team stage.

His departure from North End was impacted by coronavirus, his arrival at Rovers initially with a view to fielding him in the Under-23s. But an impressive pre-season saw him handed his opportunity in the Rovers first-team and he has been in every matchday squad since.

The 19-year-old has been used off the bench in recent weeks but will be desperate to feature against his former employers having scored in the 3-0 win at Deepdale last season, albeit a game played behind closed doors.

“It’s about recruitment, that’s why I’ve pushed hard to get recruitment right and support the people who do that work,” Mowbray explained.

“He’s a player I first saw in the Youth Cup against us, just full of energy and quality.

“When it was put to me that he was available, for what the cost was it was a no brainer and then it was all down to him how quickly he shone in the training sessions.

“He came to train with the first-team and was very quickly moved into our group and hasn’t looked back.”

Frankie McAvoy will be in the opposition dugout this weekend, promoted to the manager’s position in the summer after a caretaker spell following the departure of Alex Neil.

He remembers Dolan well but didn’t want to get drawn into the reasons why he wasn’t offered professional terms by the club, but did indicate that the impact of Covid-19 was key.

“We’ve known Tyrhys for a long time. He was here in our set-up, he did well,” McAvoy said.

“It’s not for me to say why he went, he had an opportunity to move on and got his opportunity at Blackburn and he’s done extremely well.

“I had a great relationship with him, fantastic young player and sometimes you need a chance, an opportunity, a bit of a new direction and he’s done well.

“Sometimes you just have to live with that, you can’t be bitter about it.

“Tony Mowbray and Mark Venus have given him that chance and he’s done really well.”

“I wish him nothing but the best moving forward.”

Dolan has played in 18 of Rovers’ 20 Championship matches this season, contributing three goals and the same number of assists.

He’s become a trusted member of Mowbray’s squad but a knock saw him drop to the bench at Stoke City where the man replacing him, Reda Khadra, scored the winner.

Whether to recall Dolan will be one of the calls that Mowbray has to make as Rovers look to make it six wins in eight and cement their place in the top six.

Dolan arrived at Rovers on an initial two-year deal but his progress saw that quickly become a long-term deal through to 2024, with an option of a further 12 months.

And Mowbray says further rewards lie ahead for Dolan if he can keep producing.

He added: “He’s a lad that I would like to reward as we move forward, but at the right time, he has to do it for a full season, show that he’s consistent and add goals and assists and I think the progress he’s making is fantastic and we’ll keep going with him.”