Harvey Elliott cherished the return to ‘wonderful place’ Ewood Park as he received a warm ovation from the Rovers supporters ahead of the win over Middlesbrough.

Elliott enjoyed a fine loan spell at Rovers last season but never got to play infront of the home supporters due to Covid restrictions.

The teenager was introduced to them prior to kick-off and received a warm applause from the three home stands.

Elliott was a special guest of the club and watched on as they chalked up a 10th home victory to move back into the automatic promotion places.

He fulfilled his promise of making a return to Ewood to say thank you to the fans for their support last season and says the experiences of his loan stay have already stood him in good stead.

“It’s a wonderful place, even better now with the fans,” Elliott told RoversTV.

“It was great to meet up with all the boys and the staff again.

“It brought back a lot of memories, good memories, just lovely to come out here and watch the boys and cheer them on.

“I was saying to my dad on the way in that I missed the drive, a lot of laughter and joy and experience and learning that I got from the loan spell that I’ve put into this season.

“It was wonderful to be back, see the fans and watch the team again and see the quality they have and the buzz around the team and hopefully they can keep going.”

Elliott signed a long-term deal at Liverpool upon his return to his parent club after featuring 42 times for Rovers, scoring seven goals.

Jurgen Klopp rewarded Elliott with a place in his starting line-up, featuring in four Premier League appearances before sustaining a serious ankle injury in a 4-0 win at Leeds in September.

Elliott was unable to put a specific date upon his return other than to say he’s on the ‘home straight’.

When he does get back playing, he will look to continue his fine form and build on the experience of his time with Rovers.

He added: “Blackburn have a big part of me, a big place in my heart for me, I’ll always be checking on the scores.

“To be back was a wonderful experience and see all the boys and have a catch up.

“It was great to say hello and goodbye to the fans.

“It was a shame not to be able to play infront of them.

“This loan spell has put me in good stead for this season and learned a lot from this experience here, from the gaffer, the team and different playing styles and different teams.

“It’s a great achievement to come here and do what I did, a great achievement for myself to put on a Rovers shirt.”