MARK Hughes' skill in the transfer market has been one of the key factors in his success at Blackburn over the last two years.

In his first season at Ewood Park, Hughes struck gold with the signings of Ryan Nelsen and Aaron Mokoena, both of whom went on to become central figures in the club's battle against relegation.

Then last summer, another inspired piece of business saw Craig Bellamy arrive from Newcastle, the Welshman plundering the goals that ultimately led Rovers to a top six Premiership finish and a place in the UEFA Cup.

Now Hughes is confident he's come up trumps again with the capture of Shabani Nonda, the AS Roma striker who has joined on a season-long loan with a view to a permanent deal.

When Rovers announced the signing of the 29-year-old on transfer deadline day, it hardly sent shockwaves through the rest of the Premier League.

In fact, even die-hard Blackburn fans found themselves asking Shabani who?' However, students of the European game will remember Nonda for his goalscoring exploits at Monaco, where he once scored 25 goals in a season to win the French Golden Boot.

Nonda's career has since unravelled during the last two years, mainly as a result of a serious knee injury and an unproductive spell in Italy's Serie A.

But Hughes believes he's the man to get the African back on track, just as he did with Bellamy last season.

The early signs are promising.

After helping to turn last week's game with Manchester City as a second half substitute, Nonda, who's known to his team-mates as Chris (his middle name is Christophe), then marked his first start for his new club with his first Premiership goal.

And it wasn't just the emphatic manner in which he planted a firm header past Middlesbrough keeper Mark Schwarzer that so impressed Hughes here, it was his general link up play with Benni McCarthy, and his willingness to work the channels, that had his manager purring with satisfaction.

"I'm really pleased for Chris. He's a good player with a great pedigree - I think everyone saw that today," said the Rovers boss.

"His career stopped somewhat because of injuries, but he's here now, and he'll get fitter and stronger.

"I thought he worked really hard for the cause - he was always chasing and harrying them - and to get the goal topped a really good performance.

"He's got good technique and power, which all adds up to a good player."

Nonda deservedly hogged the headlines after his first goal in English football secured Rovers' second successive Premiership win, but this hard-earned victory at the Riverside was a real team effort, with every man in blue and white playing their part in Boro's downfall.

The pick of the bunch was the irrepressible Robbie Savage, who set the tempo for the rest of his team-mates with a performance that oozed energy, passion and commitment.

The Welshman was quite literally prepared to shed blood for the cause at times, as demonstrated in the second half when he took a whack in the face.

At one point, much to the Boro fans' amusement, Savage was forced to strip down to his briefs while he changed his blood stained kit by the side of the pitch, but even that comic moment failed to distract him from the job of leading Rovers across the finishing line.

Brett Emerton was also immaculate at right-back, underlining just why Boro boss Gareth Southgate was so keen to snap him up this summer.

And credit must also go to Andre Ooijer, too. The Dutchman has hardly made the best of starts to his career in England, but the former PSV defender looked far more assured here as Rovers recorded their second clean sheet of the season.

Boro were made to look distinctly ordinary as Rovers dominated for long periods and, aside for a couple of glaring misses by Jason Euell, Brad Friedel was rarely troubled in the visitors' goal.

Rovers looked like a team that meant business in the opening half hour and they carved out a series of gilt-edged chances thanks to some enterprising football.

Schwarzer had to make saves from David Bentley and Nonda before Rovers deservedly broke the deadlock in the 27th minute.

A foul on Savage, who must have covered every blade of grass during the course of the 90 minutes, led to a free kick deep in enemy territory.

From there, the ball was quickly shifted out to Bentley on the right, and the former Arsenal man made a yard of space for himself before slinging over an inviting cross towards the far post.

Even then, Schwarzer looked the favourite to gather it but, crucially, he hesitated and in burst Nonda, who darted between two defenders to score with a powerful header.

The visiting fans' celebrations had barely died down before Boro missed two golden chances to equalise, Euell the guilty party on both occasions.

First, the former Charlton man planted a free header straight into the arms of a grateful Friedel, then 60 seconds later, with only the American to beat, he somehow conspired to fire wide of the left-hand post.

Those two scares apart, Rovers coped admirably with everything Boro threw at them, and they even had chances to extend their lead before the interval.

A Benni McCarthy effort fizzed narrowly wide of the upright, then Lucas Neill was denied by Schwarzer following a rare foray forward.

Desperate to inject more urgency into his side, Southgate ditched his 4-5-1 formation at the start of the second half and threw on Mark Viduka, but even the Aussie's presence up front failed to unsettle Rovers' defence.

It was only in the final 20 minutes when Boro started taking the more direct route to goal that they began to have any joy.

Fabio Rochemback, Viduka, and the otherwise anonymous Yakubu all went close with efforts late on.

But their day was perhaps summed up when Viduka skied another shot high and wide following Yakubu's clever nod down.

In the dying seconds, Emerton might even have rubbed salt into the wounds had Schwarzer not denied him following a typically mazy run.

As it was, just one goal was enough. Now roll on Red Bull Salzburg and Giovanni Trapattoni.