Blackburn Rovers Under 23 boss Damien Johnson has been giving an update on the progress of Jack Rodwell as he looks to rebuild his career at Ewood Park.

The former Sunderland man has yet to impact the first team picture for Tony Mowbray, but he has featured for the Under 23 side, playing 90 minutes on Monday as they drew 0-0 with Arsenal.

The 27-year old's last senior football was for Sunderland Under 21s in the Checkatrade Trophy in November 2017, but he's not made a first team appearance for anyone since playing for the Black Cats against Everton in last season's League Cup.

He once signed for Manchester City for a fee of £12m, but following his Sunderland release he secured a free transfer to Blackburn. Despite his troubles, his current Under 23 boss is delighted with the progress he's making.

"Jack's been terrific," he told the Lancashire Telegraph. "He's dropped down a couple of times for some training sessions with us and it was important to get minutes under his belt. I was pleased for him that he managed to come through the 90 minutes and looked good I thought."

Rodwell endured a tough time at Sunderland, having been billed their worst signing of all time before eventually securing a mutual contract termination in the summer, but Johnson revealed that he's a huge help and has the right attitude to boot.

“He helped us, you never can doubt his quality and his attitude has been top class as well. I'm delighted that he got 90 minutes of football.”

The Verdict

Rodwell was once a promising player, but his Sunderland spell was a disaster for all concerned. He needs to get minutes under his belt and rediscover the sort of form that prompted that initial £12m transfer.

If he can do that, then he might be able to rebuild what's left of his career and bring some closure to his awful spell in the north east.