A feel-good factor is swirling around the Rovers Academy after the success of more homegrown players in pre-season – with Jake Garrett in line to make the matchday squad on the opening day.

Garrett hadn’t featured for the Under-23s in Premier League 2 until this year, but has emerged as a first-team contender after impressing against Leeds United and backing that up with a strong cameo against Bolton Wanderers.

Left back Lenni Cirino and Connor McBride, scorer of goals against AFC Fylde and Leeds, also impressed and were part of 20 homegrown players to have featured in pre-season.

But Academy coach Mike Sheron believes the hard work starts now.

He said: “It’s been brilliant to see, we really enjoyed seeing them be involved, Jake Garrett did particularly well, Lenni coming on, Connor scoring, there is a feelgood factor among the youngsters and it’s about taking the opportunities when they come.”

Rovers collected an EFL cash boost this summer as reward for handing the most minutes to Academy graduates in 2020/21, while the club is closing in on 550 consecutive matches of having a graduate involved.

Under-18s boss Sheron is in contention to land the Under-23s job following the departure of Billy Barr. And while delighted with the impact of the Academy players in pre-season, Sheron says finding consistency will be key in getting more opportunities in Mowbray’s first-team plans.

He added: “It can be a job where you don’t get too many rewards straight away, it can take a long time to get to fruition, there’s been a lot of good work that’s gone on over the years, a lot of staff who’ve worked with these lads and it’s nice to see Jake involved against Leeds and do really well I thought against Premier League opposition.

“I thought Lenni was outstanding when he came on but it’s about doing it again, and again, and that’s how you develop and get yourself a career.

“All they want to do is play football and at times they can’t sustain those sorts of standards and it’s so important if you want to play at Championship level, for the manager, you have to play at a certain level and be consistent with that.

“Youngsters sometimes don’t find that consistency, but it’s important they do as much and quick as they can and it’s a great trait to have.”

Mowbray is a regular at the Under-23s fixtures, and welcomed a number of them to the training camp in Scotland at the start of pre-season.

On the latest Academy product threatening to break into his side, the manager said: “Garrett has come in and done what I know he can do, he’s a high quality footballer, he’s going to be, he’s got a wonderful left foot. He’s so ferocious in his tackling and I think he has done really well.”