The forward, who had scored three in two going into the game at Ewood Park, started as Danny Graham’s header a few minutes before the hour put Tony Mowbray’s men in front.

And Armstrong made it two on 67 minutes, tapping in to send Rovers to the top of the table, with the 21-year-old playing the full 90 minutes.

There were a number of other Magpies in action for their loan clubs in the last round of fixtures, with Aleksandar Mitrovic helping Fulham earn a 2-0 win over Aston Villa and Jack Colback featuring for Nottingham Forest in their goalless draw at Burton in the Championship.

In League One, Ivan Toney (Scunthorpe United), Alex Gilliead (Bradford City) and Sean Longstaff (Blackpool) all got valuable minutes under their belts, while Jamie Sterry played for League Two Crewe Alexandra in their 1-0 win over Colchester United and Lewis McNall came on in Gateshead’s 2-1 National League loss at Boreham Wood.

North of the border, Stuart Findlay helped Kilmarnock earn a 1-0 win at Motherwell in the Scottish Premiership, while further afield Rolando Aarons’ Hellas Verona were beaten 2-0 at Lazio. Goalkeeper Matz Sels was also in action, saving a penalty from Chuba Akpom in Anderlecht’s 1-0 loss at Sint-Truiden.