Blackburn Rovers boss Mark Hughes delight at Santa Cruz's debut season

2:00pm Monday 5th May 2008

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MARK Hughes has admitted Roque Santa Cruz has surpassed even his expectations during a remarkable debut season in English football.

The prolific Paraguayan, who took his personal goals tally to 23 for the season with a well-taken double against Derby County at the weekend, was deservedly crowned Blackburn Rovers' player of the year on the pitch before the game.

And Hughes later said the 26-year-old fully deserved the accolade, having taken the Premier League by storm since his £3.8 million move from Bayern Munich last summer.

"I would be lying if I said he hadn't surprised me," conceded Hughes. "I knew I was getting a technically gifted player but, if I'm honest, I didn't realise what a good player he is.

"He's impressed me from the first training session."

Santa Cruz has barely looked back since opening his goal account just minutes into his debut at Middlesbrough on the opening day of the season.

And after seeing the astonishing impact the South American has made, both on and off the pitch at Rovers, since his arrival, Hughes already rates him one of his best ever signings.

"I have to try and make sure that the signings I make have an impact and they're a success," he said.

"It's always a risk when you bring new players into the club - it doesn't matter if they come from foreign fields or up the road.

"It's a case of making sure that when they do come here, they work hard and they integrate as quickly as possible, and I think that's what's happened with Roque.

"He hit the ground running. I think he started on the bench in the first game of the season but came on and scored almost immediately, and I think that settled him right down and, from that point onwards, he hasn't stopped scoring.

"We had Benni McCarthy last year with 24, and Roque's is a great achievement for him personally. Hopefully, next year we can get two or three strikers getting 20 goals."