Tony Mowbray was evidently very pleased with Blackburn Rovers' performance in their 2-1 win over Derby County on Saturday.

Derby have been notoriously hard to beat this season with Wayne Rooney setting them up very well to compete in the second tier in spite of the shortcomings in their squad.

Ben Brereton Diaz took the headlines once again with a brace however Mowbray was keen to praise his entire attacking trio - which also includes Tyrhys Dolan and Sam Gallagher - when he spoke to the Lancashire Telegraph.

He said: "They were immense. Not just Brereton I think the attacking three deserve great credit, helping the team to win the ball back and put them under pressure.

"There are other games where the opposition will try and play out from their own six-yard box and you have to try to take advantage of that scenario, which we did."

The tempo is often set by Tyrhys Dolan with his selfless running in the frontline, the youngster does not always get the rewards in terms of goals and assists but his work rate will play a huge part in Mowbray's decision to consistently pick him ahead of the on loan duo of Reda Khadra and Ian Poveda.

A top six finish seemed a long shot at the start of the season with supporters more worried about looking over their shoulders but the positive start means that they can dare to dream.

Mowbray has done such a good job at stabilising the club in the second tier after taking them down and back up from League One in recent years.

The club have used the loan market brilliantly and are establishing some strong links with Premier League teams, but the signing of Tyrhys Dolan last summer after his release from Preston North End stands out as a genius piece of business.

The 19-year-old has already equalled his goal tally from 2020/21 and will be learning with every match in the frantic second tier of English football.

In combination with another player happy to work his socks off for little individual reward, in Sam Gallagher, the duo deserve a lot of credit for the role they have played in Brereton Diaz's meteoric rise in the first quarter of the season.