Every club is chasing an identity. They want their own DNA.

Finding it can be pretty hard. It's not something you can conjure, it has to be organic.

At Blackburn Rovers, Jon Dahl Tomasson's print is all over the football club. We've seen that at first-team level with the development of his team throughout 2023.

The same can be said for the Under-21s, who have adopted the same style, formation and core principles to prepare their players to make the step-up. 

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It is one thing for a head coach to be open to using the academy, as Tomasson is. But ensuring they're ready to make the jump and not just making up the numbers is imperative. 

On Wednesday night against OGC Nice, that was clear to see. Rovers' Under-21s mirrored the first team with an inverted full-back, high number eights and a 3-2-5 shape in build-up.

Playing the new full-back role was Jake Batty, who followed the first-team order by playing anywhere but left-back. It's a completely new role for a player highly thought of and learning a completely new skillset.

Having grown up as an attacking, more traditional full-back, Rovers' young players are being challenged to rethink their roles on the pitch. Whether that be Batty at left-back, James Edmondson, a midfielder who played as a false nine, or the likes of Jay Haddow, a full-back starting as a number six.

"I think the full-back position is changing, just like when we saw the false nine, wingers coming inside," Under-21s assistant Mark Burton told The Lancashire Telegraph. "Now we have inverted full-backs, that's the new thing.

"Jake has to adapt to that because it's what the first team do. He hasn't played it for 17 years, it's new to him.

"He has to have peripheral vision, 360-degree vision to get on the ball and see where the press is coming from. I thought he did it ok in that role, a new role for him.

"He's been brought up as a left-wing-back. Bombing down the sides, getting crosses in. Now, we're asking him to play a more technical game when we have possession.

"We are asking more questions of the opposition that way and Jake as well. It will be brilliant for his development going forward."

Tomasson's willingness to embrace the academy shouldn't be taken for granted. Rovers' academy staff have seen managers come and go who would rather look elsewhere.

The most important thing for Rovers' group is that they grasp the chance. The pathway is there, as shown by Hayden Carter, Adam Wharton, Jake Garrett, Harry Leonard and so many more. Burton has challenged the next crop to ensure they are not making up the numbers and take their chance to impress.

"It's quite clear to see that there is a pathway at Blackburn Rovers for the young players," he said. "If they are good enough, the manager will put them in, that's simple.

"That isn't always the case. I've been in football for a lot of years and it's not always the case that the manager looks at the young players.

"He takes time in the analysis from this game, they'll go through the good bits and the principles. The manager, Remi, Damien and Lowy, they'll go through this with the players.

"They don't just watch the game, they analyse. They want them to get better. It really excited me, it is brilliant. We want to see young players in and around the first team, that's the ultimate reward of our job.

"If we can get players around the first team regularly then brilliant. They still have to produce, they're not going to make the number up, they have to go and impress and then the manager asks for them to train again. The young players have done that."