BLACKBURN Rovers' Under 17s made a cracking start to their play-off campaign thanks to a 3-1 win over Millwall on Saturday.

Jerome Watt, Jay McEveley and Paul Gallagher were all on target for Rob Kelly's men in what was a keenly-fought contest in the capital.

And now they need two similar results from their forthcoming games against Wolves and Derby to qualify for a place in the quarter finals.

"It was exactly the type of game you'd expect to see against a side like Millwall," said Academy chief Bobby Downes.

"They were right in our faces and had a real go at us.

"But our lads were very disciplined in the face of some diabolical refereeing decisions and some strong challenges.

"So we were delighted to get off to a winning start."

Rovers initially qualified for the play-offs after pipping Manchester United to second spot behind Liverpool in their Academy league.

Ironically, however, they are now in what is arguably a tougher play-off group than United's in the scramble to make the last eight.

Under the play-off system, each mini-group winner qualifies for the quarter finals when it then becomes a straight knock-out.

And, after the recent disappointment of their exit in the last eight of the AXA FA Youth Cup, Rovers are particularly keen to make progress in the Under 17 competition.

Meanwhile, Ian Miller's Under 19s crashed 3-0 at home to Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

Rovers rarely looked at the races and finished up being comprehensively beaten by the final whistle.