Blackburn Rovers manager Gary Bowyer has lavished praise on star man Jordan Rhodes, praising the in-form striker for his hard work and well-deserved goal return.

The 25-year-old Scotland international is currently tied with Charlie Austin and Nick Blackman at the top of the second-tier goalscoring charts with seven goals from the first ten games of the Championship season, after scoring two goals in Saturday's 2-0 win at home to Charlton Athletic.

And his manager has praised the perennially prolific forward, insisting that Rhodes is simply receiving just reward for hard work behind the scenes.

Bowyer appreciates 'outstanding' training regime

"He's reaping the rewards for all the hard work he does," Bowyer was quoted as saying on the club's official website, also noting that he had missed "bits of the season and pre-season" but is now "really firing".

Rhodes has passed the 20-goal mark in each of his last seven seasons in all competitions, and as such Bowyer admitted that his continuing good form no longer comes as any sort of surprise.

"It is not a shock," the Scot continued, pointing to the "outstanding" work Rhodes does on the training pitch working on his finishing in an attempt to improve further on an already stunning record.

One of the most prolific forwards in the club's history

Since joining for a club-record fee of £8million in 2012, Rhodes has plundered 80 league goals for the club; in contrast, Rovers' all-time leading league goalscorer, Simon Garner, reached a total of 168 in 14 years at the club.

Despite his own good form, however, Blackburn are struggling to make an impact in the league and sit in 15th position despite last weekend's victory against Charlton.

Rhodes looked on his way out of Ewood Park

Fans will therefore be increasingly relieved that the club managed to hold on to their prized asset over the summer after a lengthy transfer wrangle with Middlesbrough, during which the forward stated that he wanted to discuss terms with the promotion-chasing Teessiders.

No such chance was given, however, and Rhodes has gone about the task of replacing the goals of the departed Rudy Gestede in a fully professional - and clearly effective - manner.

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About the author
Sam France
Former Deputy Editor-in-Chief and Features Editor at VAVEL UK, part of the VAVEL team 2014-2018.