RINGING endorsements from players and staff from Blackburn Rovers’ past led to Gary Bowyer swooping for Doneil Henry.

Rovers sprung a surprise before kick-off at Hillsborough on Wednesday night when they announced they had signed the 21-year-old on a one-month loan from West Ham United.

But, after the 2-1 victory over Sheffield Wednesday, in which Henry starred, Bowyer revealed he had done plenty of homework on the Canada international.

He talked to ex-Rovers captain Ryan Nelsen, who was the young defender’s manager at FC Toronto, and to Bradley Orr, who played alongside Henry at the Major League Soccer outfit, before his return to Ewood Park and subsequent release.

Bowyer also picked the brains of members of the coaching team at West Ham which is headed by former Rovers boss Sam Allardyce and also includes Neil McDonald and Bobby Mimms.

“We spoke to a number of people who know him,” said Bowyer, Rovers’ current manager.

“We spoke to Ryan Nelsen, we spoke to Bradley Orr, who played with him in Toronto, and we spoke to several people at West Ham, who couldn’t speak highly enough of him.

“He’s done West Ham proud and we’d like to thank West Ham for their co-operation.”

Henry was preparing for the Hammers’ home clash with Chelsea when he became aware he was on his way to Rovers at lunchtime on Wednesday.

He raced to Sheffield where he met Bowyer for the first time at 4pm and his new team-mates at 4.30pm.

Just over three hours later he was thrust into his first competitive match in English football.

And Bowyer, who moved for Henry after Alex Baptiste joined captain Grant Hanley, Shane Duffy and Jason Lowe on the sidelines, said: “He’s a 21-year-old kid and, although we’ve not known him long, you can tell he’s a fantastic lad.

“We spoke to him on the phone this morning and he couldn’t wait to come in and the measure of the lad is he jumped on a train from London and got into Sheffield at 4pm.

“And what a debut, an incredible debut against a tough cookie in Atdhe Nuhiu.”