There was widespread praise and excitement about Adam Wharton’s performance on his first league start as Rovers beat Lancashire neighbours Blackpool on Wednesday night.

Jon Dahl Tomasson was a little more reserved, applying the brakes a little to hype being built, but not because he didn’t recognise a good performance or believe in Wharton’s quality.

Instead, his statement came in the selection itself, with the 18-year-old having come off the bench to make his Championship debut against Stoke City and then being handed a start at Blackpool four days later.

Tomasson has already stated that the Salesbury-born is now a fixture in his first-team plans having been involved heavily throughout pre-season.

On the teenage prospect, Tomasson said: “There’s a reason why I put him in the team and why I’m working with the boy every day to make him become better. He’s got great potential, but needs to learn more.

“With good players you need to expect a little bit more.

“I know our great Rovers fans love to see a local boy in the team, I love that as well, and I was happy with his performance.”

Wharton is one of four Rovers Academy prospects to have been handed their debuts by Tomasson in the opening month of the season.

Another, Ash Phillips, made four consecutive Championship starts, but Tomasson says just as important as knowing players are ready is when to take them out.

He felt Phillips had been exposed to too much too soon before dropping him to the bench against Blackpool.

“As I’ve said many times, if a young player is good enough then they can play games under me no problem,” he added.

“Then I’ll put them in because this project is about taking this team in a special direction.

“Sometimes a young boy can make mistakes, we all know that.

“I said before the game that I played Ash too many times in a row, and I’m very honest about it.

“Ash did a tremendous job at an early age, but he played too many games so my job is to protect him and the club so the player doesn’t drop (their performance level).

“The difficulty is that he would like to play every game but you have to take care of a boy like that.”

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