Ben Brereton isn’t suffering from a dip in confidence.

That’s the verdict of Rovers boss Tony Mowbray who says he isn’t judging the 19-year-old on his pricetag.

Brereton is yet to make a league start for Rovers, with his move from Nottingham Forest set to be made permanent next month for a fee in the region of £7million.

Having yet to fire in a Rovers shirt, Mowbray knows questions will be asked about the England youth international, but believes a lack of a starting spot for the attacker has been down to the form of other players in the team.

Brereton has used off the bench 14 times in the Championship, including Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Norwich City.

When asked if the forward was struggling from a dip in confidence, Mowbray said: “No, I don’t think so.

“He’s a young lad who’s had very little opportunities because I don’t think he’s ready to impact our team at the moment.

“I don’t see how he gets in the team with (Danny) Graham and (Bradley) Dack and then we’ve been playing (Harrison) Reed and (Craig) Conway.

“The question is probably because he cost a few quid, I understand that, but personally I don’t put numbers on players, I just judge them as players.

“He can’t get in our team at the moment and that’s great credit to the people that are in the team and keeping him out.

“Confidence isn’t an issue I’m pretty sure.

“In training he’s scoring lots and lots of goals, maybe he’s trying too hard when he’s on the pitch.

“But over a longer period of time that will sort itself out and everyone will see what a talent he is, and I have no fears over Ben.”

Chelsea loanee Kasey Palmer was also used off the bench against the Canaries but struggled, giving the ball away several times.

Indeed, Brereton wasted a good counter-attacking opportunity moments before Norwich scored their winner four minutes from time.

Mowbray said he expects more from his substitutes if they are to try and force their way in to his starting line-up.

He added: “I talked to them after the game about that (impact). Is it difficult to come on and impact the game? That’s not my issue, they have to do it. If you want to play in the team then you have to make a positive impact.

“We made those substitutions hoping they could add some intensity to the game.

“When you play against a possession-based team like them you have to put in a lot of work shifting about the pitch.

“The frustration watching the goal back is 10 seconds before we are breaking two-on-two on the halfway line but we made a bad decision and then 10 seconds later it’s in the back of our net.

“It was a frustrating day, we’re not used to getting beat at home, but we have to brush ourselves down and go again.”

Experienced striker Graham is proving more and more valuable to Rovers by the week.

His hold-up play was excellent once again against Norwich, and he was unfortunate to continue his scoring run which had seen him net five times in his previous five experiences.

“Danny is an important player for our team,” Mowbray said.

“We’re not a possession based, keep the ball, 50 passes team.  We know how we play, we try and play in the opposition half as much as we can.

“Danny is a big part of that.”