Trying to be the man to replace Bradley Dack after his first ACL injury was always going to be a thankless task for the man seen to be selected to do so.

John Buckley wasn’t that player, yet his second and third Championship starts in the 2019 festive fixtures against Birmingham City and Huddersfield Town came within a week of Dack’s season-ending injury offering such an impression.

Rovers were always going to take time to adjust to losing their 10-goal top scorer and star man, with a 19-year-old Buckley finding the going tough. He came in for criticism, largely for the way he looked, rather than the way he played.

Yet two years on he is thriving in a unique role within the side, coming up with two assists as Rovers made it six consecutive victories, and being serenaded by the Blackburn End.

On the same night that Ben Brereton scored his 20th goal of the season, Buckley’s story is equally one of patience, though he didn’t have to shed the pressure of a £6m price-tag along the way.

Buckley was criticised initially for a lack of body strength, yet arguably now the use of his physique is one of his greatest strengths. His other is his footballing brain.

Aided by his ‘snake hips’, Buckley is ball-winning machine, yet not in your archetypal midfield general way. He nips in from nowhere and then has the presence of mind, and quality, to make the right decisions more often than not as he contributed assists for Joe Rothwell and Brereton.

Only Huddersfield Town’s Lewis O’Brien has won more tackles than Buckley’s 37, while his 27 interceptions are part of Rovers’ 280, the second most in the division.

He grabbed his first goal of the season in the win over Birmingham City and his assist double took him to six. He should have had a second, or seventh, depending on your viewpoint as to whether he should have instead shot, or tried to complete what was eventually an underhit pass for Brereton when played through.

As Mowbray spoke of the love between the supporters and players, and also Brereton coming of age, there was hard not to draw similarities with the rise of Buckley.

“I think it was the same with John, they are boys at tender ages playing in a man’s world,” Mowbray told the Lancashire Telegraph.

“Football is a man’s game and you find ways to win. I was a footballer in the 80s and 90s when football was pretty brutal and you had to survive.

“John has become through an Academy era where it’s all positional, I stress that with Reda (Khadra) that he has come from an Academy where it’s all about positions, they play positional football, all stand in their positions and they get the ball in their positions and they know where they’re going with it, they pass it around and no-one tackles anyone.

“Aesthetically it looks lovely but it’s not Championship football.

“Championship football you have to tackle people, close down, you have to run, to fight, win headers and cut passing lines off.”

Buckley has known nothing other than Rovers in his football life and his development has been closely managed for more than a decade.

A fine pre-season in 2019 catapulted him into the first-team set-up and while starts were in short supply last season, with only seven, he was in all but one matchday squad.

While many felt a loan spell would have been beneficial, Buckley has learned his craft on the Brockhall training pitches rather than the lower leagues.

Departures and a focus on homegrown youth players, as well as a more counter-attacking style, have seen the 22-year-old seize his moment to start all but one game this season.

He has more than doubled his league starts and only ever-present Lewis Travis has made more.

Rovers have overhauled their playing style, with Buckley operating in something of a hybrid midfield-forward, flanked by two flying attackers to give them the threat on the turnover of possession that has brought them the most counter-attacking goals in the division.

And Mowbray says the players have bought into that approach, with Buckley in particular taking on the information that’s been passed on to him.

“They have to buy into that, they have to want to do it unless they won’t play,” Mowbray added.

“John is a really bright intelligent guy, he has every chance of playing right at the very top level because he’s a thinking footballer.

“He listens to the instructions and he does it. I once told you about Kieron Dyer and coming towards the end of my time at Ipswich Town and becoming a coach and he was coming along through the youth team at 17, you would tell him once and you would never have to tell him again.

“John Buckley is a bit like Kieron Dyer, he was an international player but John Buckley has a wonderful brain who understands football and will play at the top level because of that.”

Rovers have several more exciting young players coming through the ranks and the Buckley story of patience is one to be learned from.