Jon Dahl Tomasson heaped praise on Harry Leonard after he scored for Blackburn Rovers against Sunderland.

Leonard was given the nod ahead of new signing Semir Telalovic and restored Tomasson's faith with the equaliser, heading in Callum Brittain's cross. He could've had more goals too, with two big chances that were blocked at the last moment.

The young striker started the opening three Championship games with Sam Gallagher out injured. With the forward now on the sidelines for another six weeks, it's an opportunity for Leonard to get even more minutes at Championship level.

After being taken out of the firing line across the last few matches, Tomasosn was impressed with Leonard's performance in training which earned him the nod on Wednesday night.

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"Semir is quite new," Tomasson told The Lancashire Telegraph. "He had a pre-season but he hasn't played a lot of games.

"We need to get him up to speed and I think Harry looks good. He looked good during the week.

"We know when young players are playing a lot of games one after the other it can be tough. We saw Harry start very well against West Brom, he could have had a hat-trick, he's a young boy.

"After that he was ok and then a little less. That is normal and that's ok. Now he is fresh again and that is part of the development of players. He could've had a few more goals I think."

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Tomasson was reluctant to start Leonard at the end of last season despite Rovers' struggles for goals. This season, he's already started four out of seven Championship games.

The Rovers head coach has seen a big improvement in his physical capabilities, having used in-house matches and Under-21 games to build his resilience.

Rovers rewarded him with a new contract in July and Tomasson believes the striker has big potential. Whilst he is 'learning on the job', the head coach has been encouraged by what he's seen.

"We have a young boy who scored a good goal today, his second goal at this level. He's learning on the job and he is doing a good job, I think that is positive.

"It is not easy to be more clinical, we are working very hard to create chances. We are creating some very big moments and I think the football we played was very good.

"Scoring goals is not an easy part of football. Last season, I tried to develop him and he played 46 games with in-house games and also 21s games.

"He was ready to be robust, it is a great league and the intensity of the league is so high. He is a player with a lot of potential."

Whilst Rovers missed glorious opportunities, Sunderland took theirs and showed a greater level of composure in front of goal. Jack Clarke, in particular, stood out.

Tomasson knows his team must be more clinical but without a proven goal-scorer, refused to criticise his young team. He instead focused on the positives around the quality of chances they are creating.

"We should never complain about the players because they are very young," Tomasson said. "They want to improve, they want to do their best.

"At this level, it's a young team and we have inexperience in certain areas. We don't have a proven goal-scorer, we all know that. It's nothing new and we are not complaining about the players when you create that level of chances, we are doing plenty of things right but we do need to be more clinical."