Progress is never linear. Especially when it comes to football.

For young players looking to make their way in an often brutal industry, it is not simply down to talent. Injuries, opportunities and managers; they all come into the equation. That's why only one per cent of the one per cent make the grade, as they say.

Jake Batty is a name pretty well known amongst Blackburn Rovers fans, considering he has one League Cup appearance to his senior career. The youngster is capped by England at Under-17 level and has been on the fringes of the first-team picture for a while.

He rejected a relatively big-money move with Leeds United most keen to acquire his services, instead penning his first professional deal at Rovers. 

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As an old-school full-back who loves to attack and overlap, he has had his challenges adapting to new demands, to use his own words. After two years in the Under-21s, this was the right moment for him to embark on his first loan, down the road at Accrington Stanley.

"I think it's important for anyone trying to push their development. I wasn't quite there with Blackburn's first team at the moment," he tells The Lancashire Telegraph as he fits the interview in between training and extra gym work.

"Obviously, Owen Beck came in and you've got Picks and they're doing really well, which is what you want for Blackburn. We want to see them go into the Premier League but I wasn't I wasn't at that stage yet ready to fight for that left-back position at the moment. 

"So I think it's almost a bridge for me to get out of 21s football but I wasn't quite close enough to the first team. So, hopefully, this loan will improve me physically and mentally.

"Knowing where I can play, how I can play, and knowing I can do it in League Two and put performances out. So, yeah, I think it's just about building a bridge to put myself in the gaffer's eyes to show what I can do.

"I think the timing's been right this year. I still had a lot to learn last year in 21s football. I think when John Eustace came in, the 21s were separated because we had to stay up in the Championship.

"The 21s came together a little bit more as a squad and that really made me learn quite a few things about myself and how I can improve on my game. So I think that this is the right time for me to go out on loan and I can see myself growing mentally."

Loans can make or break a player. It has to be the right environment and a club where the manager trusts you. Batty is not too proud to say geography played a part too.

Accrington made a slow start to the season, their first League Two win didn't arrive until October 5. Many managers would've opted for experience in that run, as has perhaps been the case with Connor O'Riordan at Cambridge United.

"I've had lots of chat with the gaffer and they've always pushed me forward to what I can improve on and then the things which I know and they know what I can do for the team," Batty reflects when asked about the importance of trust from a manager.

"I think the main thing is you're trying to improve every day. You can't be you can't be having days off really. 

"I've learned that a little bit more from how it was with the 21s. You've gotta be at it every day because obviously, they're fighting for their jobs and we're fighting for either to stay in the league or push for promotion. 

"It is 100 per cent about three points. You could have a bad performance and get the three points or you could play really well and lose the game. 

"It means a bit more for three points on a Saturday or a midweek game than 21s game does because, as you said, development for the 21s is key. 

"Almost developing yourself to get out on loan, which I found last year trying to develop myself to then push myself forward in the window.

"That was the main thing. Knowing that I was gonna be happy in myself because if I wasn't near family, people like that, if it was more down south, for example, it's tough to enjoy your football as much as where I am now."

Batty has always got eyes on Blackburn Rovers. As he describes it, they are 'his club' despite his strong Scouse accent. 

It's been 18 months since that Carabao Cup debut and Batty harbours strong ambitions to ensure it is not a solitary club outing. But there's also a sense that this is about the bigger picture and he is clearly very self-aware of the levels he must reach having played throughout pre-season.

"That's what everyone dreams about, isn't it? If you ask every young player coming through the academy, what you wanna do at Blackburn everyone will be saying make their debut and play," he admits.

"Under Jon Dahl Tomasson, he gave out quite a lot of quite a lot of debuts, and I'm grateful for entrusting me to make mine.

"You can see it under the new gaffer, he's giving people their time to try and impress him which is which is exactly what we need. We need young players coming through to almost push that competition even higher for everyone.

"Hopefully, it could be the Premier League by next year if we have a good season which we have. We just haven't got the results a bit like what it's like here at Accy.

"It'd be unbelievable to go back and, obviously, like I keep saying, it's just good competition for everyone. It's it's good to push people, and I feel like that's when you play your best football when you've got someone there right up your right up your backside to try and push you further and further."