Rovers' under 18s kicked off their pre-season campaign on UK soil with a victory on Friday at Brockhall.

Fresh from their successful trip to Thailand, Gary Bowyer's young charges defeated Hull City 2-1.

They got off to the perfect start taking the lead after just eight minutes. A corner taken by Filip Pivkovski was met perfectly by Tom Hitchcock who headed home despite the best efforts of the defender on the line.

But on the stroke of half time Hull City were handed a route back into the game when they were awarded a soft penalty. Toni Vastić having deemed to have clipped a player in the box who went down dramatically.

The Tigers converted from the spot leaving the scores level at the break.

Both sides made a host of changes at the start of the second half, and it was Rovers who went onto grab the winner in this closely fought contest.

The winning goal coming on 68 minutes when James Knowles sent over a delightful cross from the right wing where midfielder Robbie Cotton scored in fine style with a powerful header.

The under 18s are next in action on Thursday when they travel to Scotland for a game against Motherwell.