Tyrhys Dolan has been fouled eight times in his four Championship appearances so far – half of those coming in last weekend’s draw with Cardiff City.

It was not a unique experience for the teenager, and one he could well come to expect in the Championship, after a flying start to the campaign.

Dolan scored his first senior goal in the win over Wycombe, as well as winning a penalty which Adam Armstrong converted, while the following week at Derby he tormented the Rams having opened the scoring with a close-range finish.

Having grabbed the headlines in Rovers’ back-to-back big wins there will have been greater focus on him by Cardiff, with first Joe Bennett, and then Greg Cunningham, tasked with stopping him.

They did a good job, Dolan replaced just after the hour after struggling to get involved in the game, with four fouls committed on him. One saw see Lee Tomlin booked for a crude late tackle as the winger tried to break away, while in the first half he was clattered in an aerial challenge which saw both players require treatment to head injuries.

Tony Mowbray said Dolan’s diminutive stature, as well as impact at first-team level, could well see him need to get used to such treatment.

But the youngster says a loan spell with non-league outfit Clitheroe last season, albeit one cut short by Covid, got him ready for that.

“It was a great experience for me going from boy football to men’s football and it definitely matures you as a player knowing you can’t take too many touches or players will be on to you, and you have to step up physically. It definitely did help me in my career,” he said.

“That’s what I was expecting and I did get a few strong tackles, but I just bounced straight back up and showed that it doesn’t faze me.”

Dolan is very raw and new onto the first team scene, having not played a minute of EFL football prior to his arrival at the club. He made a lasting impression on Rovers, and Mowbray, after his performance in the FA Youth Cup tie with Preston at Ewood earlier this year, with the club making their move after North End opted not to offer him a professional deal.

Mowbray has urged caution around the teenager given his inexperience, and doesn’t want too much to be expected too soon, despite being full of praise for Dolan’s attitude and application.

He added: “It’s a man’s game, isn’t it. Listen, every team is going to try and be physical with him, they’re playing against a little lad who is quite nippy, why wouldn’t you be physical with him?

“There's nobody protecting anybody out there.”

Dolan's positive attitude has been key to getting him to this stage of his career, having twice been released by clubs.

At 16 he was let go by Manchester City, then going on to Preston where he spent two years as a scholar.

But the offer of a professional didn't follow, North End allowing him to leave, with Rovers not going to miss an opportunity which saw them jump to the front of the queue to land the talented teenager.

And Dolan said he always had belief that being released by Preston wouldn't be the setback others might have.

He added: “I’ve always been a positive person so when I got told ‘no’, I wasn’t too down about it because I believe in myself and I knew that if I kept working hard then I door would open for me and it did.

“I kind of knew a couple of weeks before because my agent did get told, so we expected it because of the current situation.

“But that gave us a little bit of time to get things sorted and looking towards the next step.”