Niall Ennis is showing positive signs – but the forward still has work to do as he aims to build up his fitness and push for a place in Jon Dahl Tomasson’s side.

The forward joined Rovers on a free transfer from Plymouth over the summer but his pre-season was impacted by injury.

Ennis scored his first goal for the club in the 4-3 win against Walsall in the Carabao Cup and also had some promising cameos off the bench in the league.

However, his momentum was halted once again after picking up a knee issue in the 2-1 defeat against Hull.

The 24-year-old played the final 15 minutes against Queens Park Rangers before the international break and bagged a brace for Mike Sheron’s Under-21 against Accrington Stanley earlier this week.

“It was great to see Niall get a couple of goals, he looks a goal scorer. Obviously, he has still got to work on his fitness and it was great to see him through 60 minutes,” said Sheron.

“Strikers want to score goals, that is what gives them confidence. I thought the second was a really good goal, the way we played it down the right-hand side.”

Meanwhile, Leo Wahlstedt is keen to build on his recent run in the side ahead of Saturday’s clash with Cardiff.

The Swedish goalkeeper, who arrived in East Lancashire over the summer following Thomas Kaminski’s Luton switch, started the games against Leicester, Coventry and QPR following an injury to Aynsley Pears.

Wahlstedt is relishing the challenge of Championship football and hopes he can nail down a place in the side at Ewood Park.

“In football, you have to be ready when you get your chance,” he told RoversTV. “I’ve had an opportunity to play and I’m looking forward to developing and building those relationships with all my team-mates.

“We’ve been a lot more solid as a team in the last two games and it’s important because the Championship is such a tough league.

“There is a difference in teams in the league. Some are more direct and some are more possession-based.

“I’m enjoying life because it’s a really great league to play in. We’ve had some days off and it was nice to go home (during the international break), but we’re ready to go again against Cardiff.”

Cardiff currently sit eighth in the table and are just a point off the play-off places at this stage.

The Bluebirds enter the game on the back of a 1-1 draw against Watford, with Vakoun Bayo cancelling out Mark McGuiness’ opener.

Tomasson’s men ran out 1-0 winners when the sides met in the league at Ewood Park last term, with Bradley Dack getting the decisive goal.

Rovers have lost just one of their last 10 matches against the Welsh club in all competitions – a run stretching back to 2017.