Blackburn Rovers manager Tony Mowbray has revealed that young striker Daniel Butterworth was set to go out on loan from Ewood Park until Dilan Markanday picked up an injury against Hull City last week.

The 22-year-old has been at Rovers since 2016 after moving from Manchester United and made his league debut in April 2019 against north west rivals Bolton Wanderers.

Butterworth has found first-team opportunities hard to come by over the years though and has found his minutes in the development squad instead.

 

 

 

 

2021-22 has been somewhat of a breakthrough for Butterworth though as he currently has 10 Championship appearances to his name - all but one of which have come off the bench - however Markanday's arrival from Tottenham earlier in the month was set to push him down the pecking order.

The club had lined up a temporary departure late on in the window for Butterworth but due to the new recruit's hamstring problem that will see him out for a number of months, he will need to be kept around for the remainder of the season instead.

“Danny Butterworth I’d have liked to have sent him out this week but with Dilan’s injury that’s not now going to be the case," Mowbray said, per the Lancashire Telegraph.

“We have to keep going and we’ll see what this week brings.”

The Verdict

Unless Rovers can get one or two strikers over the line this week then it appears that the young forward will remain at Ewood Park.

That could perhaps be frustrating as even though Markanday has suffered an injury, Butterworth isn't likely to get regular minutes still.

Reda Khadra was preferred up-front against Middlesbrough on Monday night with Mowbray still believing that Butterworth needs to add things to his game to be a starter in the second tier and that is why he came off the bench on 68 minutes and didn't play from the beginning.

A League One loan would potentially do him the world of good but for now Butterworth will have to remain patient.