Tony Mowbray offers verdict on Wayne Rooney and Derby County ahead of Blackburn’s clash

Blackburn Rovers boss Tony Mowbray has praised Wayne Rooney ahead of Rovers’ clash with Derby County tonight.

The former Manchester United striker has had to deal with a range of off-field issues at his first job in management, including a 21 point deduction from the EFL this season, and Mowbray believes he is doing a sterling job given the circumstances.

“I think in adversity, Wayne has done exceptionally well.” he said via the Lancashire Telegraph.

“I think he’s got some good people around him in his staff but he’s headed it up more than well really.

“There is a lot of focus on him as such a world-class player but here he is cutting his teeth in management and doing a really sterling job in the situation.”

Derby County have been battling against all odds this season and despite their huge points deduction, Rooney has the Rams sitting just five points from safety.

Reflecting on his own battles at the bottom of the table, Mowbray continued.

“They are tough games. That was us five years ago, scrambling to try and get out of the bottom three.” he recalled.

“Like Derby are doing, we made a decent fist of it. I think we lost three out of the last 15 games but still managed to go down.

“Derby are making a really good fight of it.”

It wasn’t just their fight that came in for praise from Mowbray either.

Pointing to the statistics from Derby’s clash with Bournemouth at the weekend, Mowbray was keen to praise their style of play and the technical ability that their players possess.

“I looked at the statistics of their game at Bournemouth at the weekend. They had more possession than Bournemouth, which is no mean feat.” Mowbray continued.

“They are a possession-based team, they try and build from the back. They’ve got technically