Rovers have today announced that local lad Scott Wharton has put pen-to-paper on a fresh set of terms at Ewood Park having extended his stay at his boyhood club for an extra three years.
The highly-rated teenager has committed his future to the club until the summer of 2020, by which Rovers fans will be hoping Wharton would have firmly established himself as a fixture in the Rovers defence.
After making his first team debut last season in the 2-2 draw at home to Burton Albion, Wharton went on to feature in 3 more games for the Blues’ first team – even scoring his first Rovers goal in the 4-3 EFL Cup victory over Crewe Alexandra – before being loaned out to League 2’s Cambridge United where he played 9 games, also scoring a solitary goal for the U’s in their 2-0 victory at home to Crawley Town.
Speaking to the club’s media team, Wharton revealed his delight at extending his stay at the club for another 3 years. “I’m very pleased, it’s a club I want to be at and want to play for. I’ve been here since I was 12, so it was a straightforward decision for me and I’m looking to become a better player which I think I can do here. It’s also good that there’s a lot of competition for places at the back as I can definitely learn off the experienced pros we have.
“As I’m a local lad who also supports the club, this is naturally where I want to play my football. Being around the first team squad is really good. I’m learning every day and improving, so I’m very happy. My season hasn’t really started yet, because I’ve had two injuries on the same ankle, which has been frustrating. I just need to get fit now and get back to work.”
Rovers’ manager Tony Mowbray also had his say on Scott’s extension with the club. “I’m delighted. I think it’s important that you have succession lines. Scotty Wharton is a young lad who has some fantastic qualities. He’s a winner by nature, he has a nice left foot that can pass the ball into midfield or drop it over the top.
“Like most centre-halves, his body needs to fill out, he needs to get used to the physicality required to play against different types of centre forwards, but I have every confidence and belief that he is going to be a really good player for this club moving forward.
“I’m pretty sure his physicality and his game knowledge will grow over time. Whether that is by staying here and getting the odd game for us or playing for the Under-23s, or whether we send him out on loan again to play more league football, we’ll wait and see, but I’m very confident that he’ll be a fixture in the team over the coming years.”
The centre-half is currently recovering from an ankle injury, which has forced him to miss a lot of under-23s football, as well as missing out on a majority of pre-season. The boss however, is targeting Wharton’s return to fitness to be within the next week which will be crucial – with the absence of Darragh Lenihan – in order to add depth and competition for places in the centre-back spots.
