Joe Rothwell says manager Tony Mowbray has reassured him more first team chances aren’t far away.

Rothwell impressed off the bench in Rovers’ win over Ipswich Town last weekend as they racked up a third consecutive Championship victory.

The 24-year-old summer signing has been restricted to just five league starts since joining from Oxford United, making a further 13 appearances off the bench.

Rothwell says he is loving his time at the club, despite his lack of starts, something he has spoken with the manager about.

He told the Lancashire Telegraph: “I’ve really enjoyed it. I’ve maybe not played as much as I would have liked, but I speak to the manager every day and he keeps reassuring me so when I do get my chance I can only keep doing what I am.

“It’s part of football, most players will go through that in every stage of their career, so I have to be ready when called upon. When I do speak to the gaffer I tell him that I’m always ready. I managed to get a chance on Saturday and thought I did alright when I came on.

“We knew it was a game we probably had to win with Ipswich being where they are.
“To come on and help the team get the three points was important.”

Rothwell went close to scoring his first Rovers goal in the second half of the Ipswich win, only to be denied by the post having come off the bench at the break.

He also went close to opening his account in the win at Bolton in October, and the former Manchester United youngster knows it is an area of his game he needs to contribute more.

“It just doesn’t seem to want to go in to me at the minute,” he added.

“I need to keep working as I am and I think if one comes then I might go on a run.

“That’s part of your job, you’re not just there to create goals, you’re there to score goals as well.

“I’ve not quite done it yet but hopefully it’s coming.”

It was during the January transfer window last year that Rovers’ first showed their interest in Rothwell.

Mowbray tried to bring him to the club for the final months of the League One season, with Oxford standing firm over their valuation. But a deal was struck in the summer as Rothwell joined on a three year deal.

He revealed he had hoped to move to Rovers earlier than he did, but said he had to maintain his standards of performances so to not see it slip away.

He said: “Thinking it was coming last January, I had my heart set on coming, but then it didn’t happen.

“I had to focus on doing what I was doing at Oxford because I knew that if my standards dropped then the move might not have been there in the summer.

“I carried on as I was doing and thankfully it all worked out for the best for me.”

While Rothwell was standing by his phone last January over a potential transfer, it is a phone call of a different kind he is waiting on this time around.

“My girlfriend is due any day now so I am hanging by the phone when I’m not at home,” said Rothwell, speaking at Daisyfield Primary School as part of a Rovers Community Trust event.

“It’s the total opposite to last January, but fortunately that worked out for me in the summer.

“My focus is on another phone call now, so I think I’m ready, but until it happens, I’m not too sure!”