Jon Dahl Tomasson felt his side’s application shone through as they made light work of League Two side Hartlepool United in round one of the Carabao Cup.

Rovers did what other Championship sides have struggled to do and that was ease into round two with victory over lower league opposition.

Tomasson made 10 changes, with Scott Wharton the only player surviving from Saturday’s 3-0 win over Swansea City.

The defender opened the scoring just after the half hour mark, before a Rovers side with an average age of just 21.6 were rampant in the second half.

Quickfire goals from Bradley Dack and Tyrhys Dolan made the game safe before Dilan Markanday added a fourth.

While it proved to be a comfortable night’s work for Rovers, Tomasson felt his players showed the right focus to ensure they didn’t come unstuck like many of their Championship rivals.

He said: “Those games are always difficult when you play against lower league teams.

“That’s why I’m even happier with the performance because it shows that we take it very seriously every game, which we should do.

“It’s not always easy, but you could see that all of those players who started the game, players who came in, they wanted to make it difficult for me and that’s what you need.

“When you get a chance I’m a believer that you have to give the manager confidence.”

Tomasson saw three of his starting front four get on the scoresheet, with Wharton senior opening the scoring on a night where younger brother Adam made his debut.

Ash Phillips became the club’s fourth youngest debutant at 17 years and 45 days, with 17-year-old Jake Batty also handed his senior debut late on.

“An excellent night. We scored four beautiful goals and these games can be difficult. We kept another clean sheet, they had one shot on goal in the 90th minute and I am glad we saved it because a clean sheet is always important,” he added.

“We created a lot of chances, four different goal scorers, a lot of players have been patient but got a chance and worked hard for the team. I think they are performing as well and I am very happy.

“We finished with an 18-year-old and two 17-year-olds on the pitch and they produced excellent performances.

“There were a lot of emotions in the Wharton family with both players starting and being important.

“They did a good job and (Tyler) Morton got his first minutes with a good performance."

Tomasson was able to ring the changes but still get the desired performance from his side.

“That's what we want. Every manager wants competition and the boys have to make it difficult for me,” he said.

“It's about the club, about Rovers and you need competition in the team. The lads have been patient and I think it was an excellent performance. I am pleased for the whole team.

“I had a strong bench but playing with those youngsters because it's important for the academy. I think they all did a good job which is what you want.

“We created chances in the first half and in the second half even more too. I am very pleased with the chances we created which is the most difficult part of football.”

TAKE OUT A SUBSCRIPTION...

GAIN UNLIMITED AND UNRESTRICTED ACCESS TO THE LANCASHIRE TELEGRAPH WEBSITE WITH A PREMIUM DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTION