Tony Mowbray says Rovers’ academy “must have an impact” given the level of investment as he anticipates the prospect of working with even more young players next year.

The Category One set-up, which has brought through the likes of Ryan Nyambe, Darragh Lenihan and Lewis Travis in recent seasons, costs more than £3.5million a year to fund, around £2m of which comes from the club.

Joe Rankin-Costello is the latest graduate to make an impact in the senior side, and with finances expected to be tight this summer, more could be blooded next season.

Mowbray said: “I think the academy is something that Blackburn Rovers keep investing a lot of money in every year and we have to see the output of that, otherwise why would you invest £3.5m on an academy and nothing ever comes through?

“You might as well put that money in to the first-team squad.

“I’m pretty sure from the noises I hear that we’ll keep pushing on with the academy and keep trying to bring players through.”

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As Rovers stand at a crossroads of which direction the club will head in next season, it raises the possibility of more young players being involved in the first-team set-up.

While the side is expected to be built around the likes of homegrown trio Ryan Nyambe, Darragh Lenihan and Lewis Travis, others such as Joe Rankin-Costello and John Buckley will not be far behind.

Hayden Carter, Joe Grayson, Danny Butterworth and Jack Vale are just some of the names who could see a pathway through to the first-team next season, though Mowbray admits the speed of their opportunities could depend on the level of finance made available to him this summer.

There was ready-made Championship experience added last summer in the form of Bradley Johnson and Stewart Downing, but with the former England international out of contract in the summer, along with Danny Graham, and 34-year-old defender Charlie Mulgrew expected to leave, there will be an even younger look to Rovers’ group.

The majority of Mowbray’s signings since taking over, whether permanent transfers or loan deals, have been on players aged 24 or under, including big-money buys Ben Brereton and Sam Gallagher.

And the manager, ahead of what’s expected to be a pivotal summer at Ewood Park, says his plans will be determined by the level of finance made available by owners Venky’s.

He said: “Let’s see what the summer brings, let’s see what how the team develops, and if we go down a young side then it will hopefully be exciting and days when we’re very good, but there might be days when we don’t win because the opposition are just too experienced and have too much quality.

“If we have money then we’re on a journey to add the ingredients to try and make us competitive and in the top six, threatening the top two, to try and get out of the division.

“That’s the journey we’re on. Let’s see if it continues, how far we can take it. There’s some different routes to go down, and if it’s with the young players and internal players then we have to work really hard to try and get them up to speed as quickly as possible.”

Rovers have made just one cash sale during Mowbray’s time in charge, allowing goalkeeper David Raya to leave for Brentford last summer, while Connor Mahoney opted not to renew his contract at the club after relegation to League One.

The club have continued to invest in their academy though, with this season’s Under-18s having reached the last four of the FA Youth Cup, with their semi-final against Manchester City having been shelved for now.

Professional deals for eight of that team have since been agreed, while the club have already signed up Tyrhys Dolan from Preston North End.

The standout sale from Venky’s time in charge at the club was Phil Jones, but that was some 10 years when he left for Manchester United after just 18 months in the first-team.

A number of young players have worked with the first-team group of late, and Mowbray has been impressed with their impact, with Vale getting his first involvement in the senior side when he was named on the bench for last month’s defeat at Barnsley.

With the potential of matchday squads continuing at 20 for next season, Rovers will have to balance out who will be staying around, and who will leave on loan, though Scott Wharton is among those who will compete for a first-team spot.

By the end of the season, the number of combined appearances made by Rovers’ academy graduates will reach the 150 mark.

Mowbray added: “The academy at this football club has got to have a huge impact, whether it’s had that over the years, I’m not sure.

“Phil Jones still gets referred to, that’s a long time ago, but there’s an investment that paid off.

“I do think we have some young players with lots of talent who could be first-team players, and once you introduce them to the first-team environment you see whether they sink or swim.

“When you put them on the training pitch with senior players, it can either make or break them, because the demands are so much greater than playing for the Under-18s or the Under-23s.

“It’s been interesting over these last six weeks since we’ve come back, four or five have been training with us in case we had any positive tests and didn’t fall too short, so we’ve had some of those working with us.

“It’s been interesting to how they’ve reacted to that, a few have really taken to it and pushed on and one or two are players I’ve talked about in the past have been injured and would have been with us, Danny Butterworth and Joe Grayson.

“I’ve said it many times that we like a lot of the young players, it’s about an opportunity to show what they can do.

“Rankin-Costello is the latest one, he’s not been the weakest in the team, he’s shown he can play in our football team and that has to be a positive.

“Nyambe, Lenihan, Travis, and there’s others to come through, and how involved they are we’ll wait and see over the next few weeks.”