BLACKBURN Roversmanager Mark Hughes singled out Andre Ooijer for special praise after the Dutchman played a key role in Saturday's 1-0 win at Middlesbrough.

Before the weekend, Ooijer had come under fire in some quarters following some less than convincing performances since his £1.6 million move from PSV Eindhoven.

However, the 32-year-old defender appeared to find his feet at the Riverside, where he was instrumental in ensuring Rovers secured their first away win of the season.

Rovers are now unbeaten in four games in all competitions, and Saturday's clean sheet was their second in a row away from home in the Premiership, a stat which clearly delighted Hughes.

The bullish Rovers boss said: "I thought we were excellent form start to finish, we controlled the tempo of the game, and some of our movement was as good as I've seen this year.

"We created chances and problems for them all day long.

"We withstood their response and all their balls into the box, and I never felt in danger of losing that game, to be perfectly honest.

"At the back, we were excellent. Andre Ooijer was organising all day long, he nipped a lot of things in the bud, he got tackles in, and generally got across people when he had to.

"His was one of many excellent performances we had on the day."