Blackburn boss picks two players impressing in pre-season

The mercurial number 10 has been a bright spark in Rovers' last two games. He played an instrumental part in the winning goal against Everton and then scored and assisted against Qatar SC on Tuesday night.

Having set up Yuki Ohashi with a defence-splitting goal, he then dinked the goalkeeper after showing good strength to ride two challenges. It was a goal Ismael felt only Cantwell could score.

The challenge is for him to produce that more regularly next season but the head coach has been impressed so far.

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"We know a lot of players need a good pre-season, we're still not done but the players look good," Ismael told The Lancashire Telegraph.

"The players are stepping up their performances now, they feel stronger, there is more energy in their bodies.

"They've got more understanding of how to play together, they're more connected. If you get that consistency in training week after week, you get your fitness back.

"If you feel fit, you feel confident. Then when you to sart to score or assist, the confidence stays high. We saw at the end of the season that Todd can score goals and make assists; he's a special player. He's the X-Factor.

"The goal he scored, I think only Todd can score that goal. We will have to take care of him, we know how he is and we're happy to have him.

"His mentality on the pitch has been really, really good from day one since he came back from off-season.

"He's an older player now, not just Todd but he has great attitude, he's a hard worker.

"We have an honest group of players who are hungry and want to do well. That helps us when we work with them."

Ohashi has been another who has looked razor-sharp early on, scoring three times. He took both goals against Qatar SC with great composure, producing two clinical finishes.

Whether it's retained march sharpness from his June exploits with Japan or the benefit of recharging his batteries, Ismael hopes he can have an even better season.

"I think he had the first two weeks he had a break and then he joined the national team, he then had another one-week break," Ismael said.

"He saw his family, he was really happy when he came back. He's very motivated as it's an important year for him with the World Cup.

"He's well prepared. I think we're starting to see to see the players are getting sharper, week after week. It's a big step ahead from last week again.

"It will be interesting to see them against another opponent on Friday who is stronger. We will have to press again, face to the conditions, the weather and adapt. I think the game today showed that we are able to do that."

Sean McLoughlin played an hour on his debut whilst Ryan Alebiosu came on for his first appearance in blue and white. Ismael was encouraged by both players' first outing.

"I think they were ok, the first game is never easy. It's also very hot and the opponent were very aggressive at the beginning," he said.

"The goal we concede, it's just communication. We have a rule in place, when the ball is in the middle, it's for the centre-back, nobody else.

"That's the main thing to iron out but it's pre-season, it didn't affect the game. I thought Sean did well.

"Ryan was really good, a lot of energy. We saw his pace and how he wants to attack the final third. I was pleased with his performance.

"We will build him up and, hopefully, we can get more minutes for him in the next game."