Rovers are 'asking too much' of Ben Brereton, according to Tony Mowbray, who was pleased to see the striker back in the goals at Peterborough United.

Brereton netted goal number 21 of a productive season against Peterborough, but his first of 2022, a year disrupted by an ankle injury and time away with the Chile national team.

His injury recovery hasn’t been the most straightforward, returning for Chile against Uruguay in a World Cup qualifier before making his first appearance since February for Rovers at Coventry earlier this month.

Brereton has toiled away in the last two matches, against Blackpool and Peterborough, and looked a threat in the Good Friday defeat.

His emphatic finish put Rovers 1-0 up with 13 minutes to play, only for them to throw it away in the closing stages as Posh launched a late comeback.

Brereton has scored 40 per cent of Rovers’ league goals this year, and with no-one having stepped up in his absence, as Mowbray’s side failed to score in five of the seven matches he missed, the manager says it is asking a lot of the 22-year-old to get back to top form so soon after injury.

“He’s been out injured for a while and we’re asking too much of Ben Brereton at the moment,” he said.

“It was no surprise to see him score, it’s what he’s been doing all season for us.

“But it’s more about the team than Ben Brereton, his career will go where it goes. He’s a player that scored 20 goals before Christmas and then got injured and it was a big loss to the team.

“Being out for six weeks, it’s hard for players to come back and hit the ground where they left off.

“Ben is getting up to speed again and he has a lot of talent, and hopefully he can score a few more goals before the end of the season and we’ll see what the summer brings.”

For the third time in five games Bradley Dack was introduced at half time, with Rovers having struggled in the first half once again.

It was a risk, with Rovers having already made a first half substitute due to being down to 10 men after Tayo Edun’s red card.

But Mowbray felt he had no alternative than to turn to Dack who partnered Brereton in attack for the second half.

He added: “Dack is still finding his way, trying to find his fitness, and it was probably unfair to put him on half time but the team needed someone who could get hold of the ball and make better decisions.”

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