“Everyone is going to be talked about and people are going to have opinions, whether they are good or bad. I think that is just part of football.”

Things couldn’t have gone much better for Adam Wharton since breaking into the first-team picture at Rovers.

The creative midfielder has become an important member of Jon Dahl Tomasson’s squad and recently committed his future to the club by signing a new deal at Ewood Park.

Wharton has been highly-rated since a young age, which can come with a level of pressure for players looking to make a name for themselves.

However, the 19-year-old has never paid much attention to the outside noise and instead lets his performances on the pitch do the talking.

“It doesn’t really affect me too much,” he said. “As you grow older, you get used to it.

“I know what my strengths and weaknesses are. I know if I’ve played badly and when I can improve certain aspects of my game.

“For me, it is about keeping a level head and focusing on what I can. I just have to listen to the staff and the gaffer because they decide who starts the games.

“I am trying to take in everything they say about what I need to do to improve and then try to take that into games.”

Wharton made his first senior appearance in August 2022, starting against Hartlepool in the Carabao Cup.

The end goal in Academy football is always to breakthrough to the first-team picture, but the midfielder was just focused on enjoying his football at the time.

“I didn’t really think about it too much,” he continued. “For me, it was always just about playing football. It is something I have enjoyed all my life.

“I wasn’t too concerned about (the future), I just wanted to enjoy my football and if I was doing that, I knew that I would play my best and things would fall into naturally.”

Lancashire Telegraph: Wharton is eager to keep improving his gameWharton is eager to keep improving his game (Image: Camerasport)

While there were plenty of positives to take from his first season in the senior squad at Ewood Park, Wharton also had a spell out of the side.

“It definitely opened my eyes,” he said. “It was my first professional season and it was difficult.

“Obviously, I wanted to play football as every player wants to, and you don’t want to be sat on the sidelines for a long period of time.

“But it definitely helped me and I was hungry when I came back to impress and get my place back in the team.”

The youngster has received plenty of plaudits for his performances in the Championship over the past few months.

Despite such a promising start to his career, he is determined to keep learning and improving his game.

“Even when I look back towards the end of last season, I am a completely different player,” he reflected.

“That is just football, it is always changing. I am learning and getting better every single day, and that is what I want to keep doing.

“Sometimes I look back to last season and think I wasn’t very good back then. Some people might think differently but when I watch some games back, I think I was miles off it.

“I have always looked at it that way, I always know I can do more. I look back on things and think, ‘I should have done this’.

“I think it is just me as a person and the way I look at football, it is probably very different to a lot of people.

“I want to be the best player I can and to do that, I have got to be effective on the ball as much as possible.”

There is no denying Wharton’s ability on the ball, with Tomasson claiming he has ‘Champions League quality’ earlier in the season.

However, the Academy graduate is keen to become a more rounded player as he continues to get vital experience under his belt.

“The obvious one is off the ball,” he explained. “Throughout my Academy days, that is always what I was told so I have to think about that.

“I have definitely improved on that in the last couple of seasons but there is plenty of room to improve in all aspects to reach the top of the game, which is what I want to do. I will keep working on everything and try to get better.”