JASON Lowe has been on the other side of several clashes between Wanderers and tomorrow’s opponents, Blackburn Rovers.

And now he is going into what is sure to be a fiercely-contested derby in an all-white shirt of Bolton, he is not about to let sentiment dim his will to get one over on his former club.

The Wigan-born midfielder joined Blackburn at the age of 12 and came through the youth ranks, making close to 200 appearances before leaving Ewood Park in the summer of 2017.

Lowe made his debut against QPR in the FA Cup in January 2011, earning his first Premier League start against Chelsea the following week. He was also named captain of the club and says he was given a terrific grounding as he learned what it takes to succeed in the game.

He was one of half a dozen first-team players released after Blackburn’s relegation, and now he is going up against Rovers he is focused on just one thing – a win for Wanderers.

“From a personal point of view I’ve got a lot of memories and history with Blackburn, everyone knows that, but I’ll try and just focus on the game and do my best to get us a home win,” he told The Bolton News.

“In the game you have to grow up fast. At Blackburn as a kid I was surrounded by men from an early age and you had to get on board, learn quickly, or you get shoved to one side.

“That’s the industry we’re in. You have to grow up.

“People’s lives depend on the game, families etcetera, and people don’t see that.

“From an early age I have had to ‘man up’ so to speak.”

Both of the famous old Lancashire clubs go into the game on the back of defeats in midweek, Wanderers at Stoke and Blackburn the following night at home to Sheffield United.

The two are level on points in mid-table and, should one side collect three points, they could climb into play-off territory.

But many feel consistency is holding Wanderers back – they are certainly capable of upsetting the Championship’s leading lights but struggling against sides that, on paper at least, could come under the heading ‘beatable’.

“You have just got to keep working at it,” insists Lowe. “Finding consistency is very difficult and it’s probably the one thing that separates the contenders at the top end of the division and those in the middle part, so on and so forth.

“To just get that ingredient would be massive. But we just have to believe in what we are doing. We’re working really hard on the training ground.

“We weren’t a million miles off against Stoke. We pushed them back in the second half – and I know they had something to defend – but on another day we leave with something.

“I’m proud of the lads, proud of the effort, they never give in.

“They have got togetherness in abundance and we’ll need every ounce of it to get a result against Blackburn.”

Lowe joined Birmingham after his Rovers exit but failed to nail down a regular place in the team and was released earlier this year, becoming Phil Parkinson’s first signing of the summer.

So did he regret leaving Blackburn in the wake of their relegation?

“I don’t like looking backwards, to be honest,” he said. “I like to be in the now and be excited about what is going to happen.

“I am really proud to be at Bolton. The management put their faith in bringing me here and I am really enjoying my time at the club.

“You don’t know what path football is going to take.

“You go to work every day trying to work hard, develop, give all you have got. It’s all about the team and the club.

“I certainly know what it means to the supporters. There are a few who will have played in games against Blackburn – and any of them who haven’t, I’ll certainly be giving them a reminder.

“I know the atmosphere will be great and we’ll give everything we can to make sure that result reads okay for us in the end.

“We got beat 2-0 at Stoke and the fans clapped us off.

“They are behind us and hopefully we can give them something to shout about in the derby at the weekend.”