Jon Dahl Tomasson hailed Adam Wharton after the youngster scored his first goal for Rovers in the 2-1 win against Birmingham City at Ewood Park.

Wharton found the bottom corner with a clinical strike on the stroke of half-time after Sam Gallagher had earlier opened the scoring from close range.

Scott Hogan pulled one back for the visitors late on but Tomasson’s men held on to make it three wins on the spin.

“When you put young boys in the team, you can see the fans feel that is great to see those young boys. Then when you see they can succeed, it is even better,” said the Rovers chief.

“They can fly but they will make mistakes and will cost goals and not play that good, but it's something over time we need to develop these players, get better, be stable with those young boys.

“It was great to see him score and celebrate like that too, I think the supporters enjoyed it. I enjoyed it!”

Birmingham had lost just one of their last eight matches prior to their trip to East Lancashire, and Tomasson was delighted with his side’s performance after a demanding week.

He added: “It was a great result against a side in form that has been playing very well. A lot of teams have had difficulties with Birmingham over the last weeks.

“It was a good performance, not our best game on the ball but we scored two good goals. It was good to see midfield players around the final third - Morton an assist, Wharton a goal. 

"We need that during the season with midfield players scoring goals. Of course, Thomas (Kaminski) had a brilliant game in goal, he saved us today.

“Defending is part of the game and we defended the box well, especially at the end of the game with a young side.

“It has been a great week but after playing away at Middlesbrough, Sunderland at home and this game, it costs energy for the boys regarding intensity and they are learning to cope with that. We are happy with the win.”

Ryan Hedges limped off during the second half, and Tomasson says he will have a scan tomorrow to assess the extent of the injury.