Rovers have added a new face to their goalkeeping ranks after a ‘comprehensive review’ of their coaching set-up during the summer.

Charlie Andrew has been appointed as the club’s senior lead Academy goalkeeper coach working under Ben Benson.

It is the latest appointment in the club’s goalkeeping coaching ranks, with Chris Renshaw having been named assistant first-team goalkeeping/transition coach in the summer.

Andrew joins Rovers from Lincoln City where he spent 18 months working as lead Academy goalkeeper coach, having previously been on the Imps’ books as a player.

The 22-year-old also spent time at Hull City, both as a player and as a part-time Academy goalkeeper coach, and had loan spells with the likes of Pickering Town, Bradford Park Avenue and Alfreton Town.

His role at Rovers will see him develop the club’s young shot-stoppers from nine to 18 and ensuring a pathway through to Benson and Renshaw in the first-team set-up.

Benson himself previously worked within Rovers’ Academy ranks before his promotion to the senior team upon Tony Mowbray’s appointment in February 2017 and was delighted with the new recruit.

He explained: “We did quite a comprehensive review over the summer, bringing Chris Renshaw in as assistant and transition coach, and then we always felt that the Academy needed someone with energy, passion and desire to develop the next set of goalkeepers and make a strong link all the way through from the senior team all the way down to the Academy.

“We think Charlie is probably the final piece in the jigsaw and he will bring all of that drive and determination to the club and also a lot of collaboration, which we’ve built into the programme, so he will come and work with us up here at the STC (Senior Training Centre) a lot more.

“He’s had a playing background as well, which we think is important in terms of building relationships and connections with the younger goalies.

“We’ve always had a fantastic link with the Academy, that’s how I first started, but the key is if you want to be productive, we think having the three of us – myself, Chris and Charlie – in place, all with very developmental minds and having all worked in Academy football, we think we’ve laid some solid foundations now for the football club moving forward.” 

Rovers currently have six professional goalkeeper’s on their books, four of which have come through the Academy.

Thomas Kaminski is the club’s No.1, with Aynsley Pears providing the competition.

Behind them are Joe Hilton and Jordan Eastham, who were part of the first-team squad in Portugal last week, as well as Aidan Dowling and Felix Goddard who is highly-rated and spent time in the England set-up.

Of the opportunity, Andrew said: “It was a really big opportunity for me to come here and join a great goalkeeping department and to test myself at a Category One Academy.

“It’s a big club, with all the foundations in place, and I’m looking forward to getting to work with all the players and the staff.

“It’s exciting to see what the first team are doing and how close the club is to making that step to the next stage, but it’s also exciting to see how many Academy players are produced here as well.

“That’s a lot of good goalkeepers already here, from the Under-9s right up to Thomas (Kaminski) as first team number one, and my job is to make sure that there’s a route in place for these young players to get from that stage right to the top.”

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