Ben Brereton ‘sees himself as a No.9’ according to Tony Mowbray who was delighted for the attacker as he opened his Rovers account.

Brereton put Rovers ahead on the half hour mark when sweeping the ball home from a Bradley Dack pass, his first goal since joining from Nottingham Forest.

The 20-year-old has had to be patient, limited to opportunities off the bench and mainly used in a wide right role. He has even had a spell with the Under-23s to build his confidence but led the line well against Bolton where Rovers chalked up a fourth consecutive victory.

Brereton’s arrival, for a fee of around £6m, has added pressure on the England youth intentional to deliver, but he has had to be patient for opportunities given the form of Danny Graham.

But Mowbray feels Brereton offers something different to the 33-year-old and believes he has a big role to play moving forward.

The boss said: “Ben sees himself as a No.9. He’s different to Danny Graham in that the physicality isn’t there for a young guy, but the mobility is and the clinical finishing that Danny brings, but he has that extra mobility.

“The work we do on the training ground allows for that mobility at the top end of the pitch.

“I think we need to try and get away from the almost one dimensional style of a diagonal ball to Graham, knock down to Dack, which has worked so well for us over the last couple of seasons.

“I do believe that as we move on and make the club stronger and better, we need to evolve to be more controlled and better in possession, which is what we’ve tried to do in the last month or so, which has bearing fruit for us at the moment.”

The Bolton game was Brereton’s 27th appearance in all competitions, but just sixth from the start.

Mowbray feels he has settled well, with Graham having taken him under his wing, as well as becoming a popular figure in the dressing room.

The boss feels Brereton’s time to shine will be next season, having had this year to acclimatise himself to the club as Rovers adapted to life back in the Championship.

Having just turned 20, and signed to a long-term deal, Mowbray knows there is vast potential in Brereton which he hopes will come to the fore moving forward.

He added: “Ben’s had limited time, but I’m sure he enjoys his time here because I see him laughing and joking with the lads every day.

“I know Graham and Dack have really warmed to him because he is a young boy.

“To put it into context, you think of Armstrong as a young boy and Ben is two years younger than him.

“He’s a wonderful footballer, that’s why he’s here and that’s why we invested the money, not necessarily for today, but tomorrow.

“By tomorrow I mean that he should be pushing really hard to be a starter for us next season. Hopefully he has a really good pre-season, I’m sure he will and a fantastic year next year for us.”