The 18-year-old secured his first temporary move away from Everton in the winter transfer window, joining Blackburn on loan until the end of the season.
Branthwaite made his tenth league start for Blackburn against Derby County on Friday and helped them to a 2-1 victory over Wayne Rooney’s side.
Reflecting on Branthwaite’s performance against the Rams, Blackburn manager Mowbray has explained that the teenager coped with the challenges posed by the Derby attackers well.
Mowbray admitted that Blackburn signed Branthwaite, as well as Manchester City loan star Taylor Harwood-Bellis, to add defensive cover before hailing the centre-back for the impact he has made at the club.
“They’re just two young boys, we brought them in January because we needed cover“, Mowbray told a press conference.
“And yet they have played such a prominent part and done so well for us.
“They’re just young boys learning their trade.
“They had a difficult task tonight [Friday; ed.] with some different challenges with the directness and speed in the first-half, then they had the brute force for half an hour in the second-half.
“They coped with it pretty well even though we had a few headers on our goal in the last few minutes.“
With just four more games remaining in the season, Branthwaite will be hopeful of getting a few more starts under his belt before returning to Goodison Park.
