GOALKEEPER Jason Steele deserves praise for the way he has bounced back from his hit and miss start to his Blackburn Rovers career.

That is the verdict of Rovers goalkeeping coach John Keeley going into today’s War of the Roses clash with Leeds United at Ewood Park (3pm).

MORE TOP STORIES:

Steele, signed on a season-long loan from Championship rivals Middlesbrough on transfer deadline day, enjoyed an excellent debut in the 1-0 win at Fulham on September 20.

But his next two matches for Rovers did not go as well.

The former England U21s international admitted he was at fault for the free kick he conceded in the 2-2 home draw with Watford.

And worse was to follow in the 2-0 defeat at Rotherham United when Steele, after receiving a horrible back pass from Ryan Tunnicliffe, saw his attempted clearance hit Luciano Becchio and rebound into his empty net.

But since then Rovers have not lost, winning three and drawing four, and Steele’s displays have got more assured by the game.

And that is to the delight of the man who works closely with him throughout the week at Brockhall.

Keeley said: “After what happened to him, with the goal against Watford and the goal against Rotherham, he could have sunk but he never did that.

“That said I didn’t put him down for the goal against Rotherham because something like that could happen to the best keeper in the world – it was a freak accident and hopefully it will never happen to him again.

“But he took it on the chin and he has reacted very well to it.

“You have to remember he’s also had to settle into a new team, plus the fact that he hadn’t played a lot of football before he came here.

“But he’s shown great character and I am absolutely chuffed for him because he’s a really dedicated kid.

“He comes in every day, puts a proper shift in, does all the training properly, works at a good pace, wants to learn, and is the last out of the training.

“Everything he does, he does for purpose, and if you get that, it’s great to have a player like that around.”

Steele, who made 142 appearances for Middlesbrough before falling out of favour with new manager Aitor Karanka, had to be content for a place on the bench in his first two Rovers matches.

But the 24-year-old dislodged Paul Robinson between the posts after the 3-2 home loss to Derby County in September and has remained there since.

Rovers boss Gary Bowyer spent the summer looking for keepers to rival and challenge Robinson.

But it was not until the final day of the window that he managed to nail down the man he believed was up to the job.

“When the gaffer said we could get him, I said get him in,” said Keeley, who believes Steele has improved Rovers’ distribution out of defence.

“I rung around a few people that knew him and every single one of them said ‘take him all day long’ so I had no qualms whatsoever.

“I always believed he would do well for us as I thought last season him and Alex McCarthy from Reading were the best two keepers that visited our ground.”