Joe Rankin-Costello won’t be rushed back into action despite the ongoing concern over Ryan Nyambe’s hamstrings.

Rankin-Costello will make his latest appearance for the Under-23s against Liverpool tonight (7pm) as he continues his comeback from a fractured metatarsal, one that has been held-up by a muscle injury.

The 22-year-old has played twice for the Under-23s as part of his recovery, as well as in a behind closed doors game, but is still not ready to be back in the first-team picture, with 60 minutes planned in tonight’s game.

That comes in the wake of Nyambe limping out of the win over Reading with another hamstring injury, an ongoing concern for the Namibia international, however, Rovers are hopeful that it was only cramp rather than anything more serious.

Tyler Magloire, Hayden Carter and John Buckley have all filled in for Nyambe during his absences this season, but it was Rankin-Costello who has competed with him since his emergence on the first-team scene.

However, he has also been used in a variety of roles by Tony Mowbray who will also be keeping an eye on Scott Wharton’s progress in tonight’s game.

For Wharton it will be his third Under-23s outing as part of his comeback from a ruptured Achilles that has sidelined him since December, with the potential for the central defender to come through a full game.

Mowbray told the Lancashire Telegraph: “I think Scotty can potentially play 90, I think he’s going to play 75 depending on how the game goes, Rankin-Costello a little bit less, maybe 60 minutes.

“Both are expected to play and it’s a smooth transition back into the squad and being able to help us.”

Rankin-Costello missed 29 matches through injury last season, but of the 17 times he made the squad, he was named in the starting XI on all but one occasion.

His versatility has been well utilised by Mowbray, but largely in a defensive role, despite much of his football at Academy level having come in the attacking positions.

He is likely to start on the right side of the Rovers defence tonight as Mike Sheron's side aim for what would be only a second victory of the campaign.

“I think we have to be really cautious with Joe, we have to be careful that he feels 100 per cent confident coming back and that we don’t rush him and he’s into a situation where he’s forced to play before he’s ready,” Mowbray explained.

“I would like Joe to get to a point where he’s knocking on my door and asking why he’s not involved, why isn’t he playing? Then I feel he’ll have the confidence to and play a 90 minute football match for the first-team and that’s what’s required.

“For his career, for his mindset, I want him to feel super confident that he’s ready and that’s not sure whether he can play 90 minutes.

“The more he plays, the more Under-23s game-time he gets, the more he trains again and is around what we’re doing on the training ground, whether it’s a high intensity training day, Joe has to be in the middle of that so he feels confident about his body.”

It was expected that Rankin-Costello, who sustained the fractured metatarsal in the Easter Monday defeat at Wycombe Wanderers, would have returned to action by now, but as Rovers find with Bradley Dack’s first return from an ACL injury, the pathway isn’t always as smooth as hoped.

“I think that’s happened with Joe,” Mowbray added.

“I generally leave injured players to the physios, yet players like Joe when it becomes long-term you chat to them, support them.

“He’s such a talent, he can play left side, right side, he can play defensive, he can play attacking, you feel he can score you a goal if you push him high up the pitch, we’re just looking forward to the day he is back in the squad, affecting the team, and whether that’s a couple of weeks, or a couple of months, we hope the sooner and fingers crossed that it is.”