Blackburn Rovers’ Ben Brereton has come in for criticism over his effort

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Nottingham Forest owned Ben Brereton is on loan at Blackburn Rovers.

Blackburn Rovers boss Tony Mowbray says striker ex Nottingham Forest ace Ben Brereton is an amazing talent but needs to put more effort in to warrant a regular first-team spot, the Lancashire Telegraph report.

“Ben Brereton has cost us a lot of money, but he’s a very young boy. He scores more goals than anyone in training and in small-sided games so I have no doubt in my mind that once he acclimatises to the effort of a Bennett and a Smallwood, of how you have to work for this team, you won’t play if you don’t do the work,” Mowbray explained.

“Once he acclimatises to it, he’s an amazing talent and will be a good addition to this group of footballers along the way.”

Brereton joined Blackburn Rovers from Nottingham Forest initially on a loan deal until January, but that is expected to become a permanent deal after the clubs agreed a £7 million fee (Lancashire Telegraph).

Forest have a proud history of producing excellent academy prospects and bringing them through to the first-team, with the likes of Michael Dawson, Jermaine Jenas and Jamaal Lascelles among those going far.

Ben Osborn and Matty Cash are two others featuring for the Reds, but to the surprise of many in the summer, manager Aitor Karanka was happy to move on another in Brereton when Blackburn came calling.

The 19-year-old has bags of potential and made 35 Championship appearances last term, but since moving to Ewood Park, he has yet to start for Rovers with Mowbray now suggesting he needs to increase his effort.

Karanka is renowned for setting his teams up to work hard and in cohesion, and perhaps he felt Brereton wasn’t putting in the graft to match his natural ability and as such was happy to see him leave.

Rovers would have been oblivious to Brereton’s attitude and effort levels in training at Forest, and Mowbray’s comments suggest he hasn’t been too impressed so far – restricting him to just 130 minutes of Championship action.