WHEN Blackburn Rovers just beat the clock to sign Yakubu on transfer deadline day in August, you couldn’t blame a lot of the Ewood Park faithful for not being too excited about it.

After months of being linked with an abundance of foreign fire power, the arrival of a 29-year-old journeyman striker whose best days looked long gone was hardly filling anyone with great hope.

After all this was a striker who was left ploughing his trade on loan at Championship Leicester last season after suffering a series of fitness blows. Not many expected him to become an integral part of Rovers’ fight for survival.

How wrong we all were. Yakubu will lead the line at Stoke this lunchtime with five league goals in just six starts for the club. He already has the same amount of goals as the club’s top scorer did last season.

A more detailed deeper look into ‘the Yak’s’ Premier League record showed we perhaps should not have been surprised. A record of 102 goals in just 224 starts in English football shows that.

“I don’t think it was a gamble signing Yakubu,” said Kean. “You look at his Premiership record. His Premiership starts to goal ratio is very, very high.

“I think sometimes, like with any player, maybe he was at a club for a bit too long and needed a fresh start. We have given him that environment and since the day he has come in he has been a breath of fresh air.

“He has got better. He has got sharper, fitter and I think he is looking better than when he first came. I think he is disappointed he hasn’t got another four or five goals because he has had other chances.

“His reputation is going back up again and it should be. All strikers get their value and reputation by scoring. He is the first to take his hat off to the others who have provided the chances.

“He has been getting good service and any striker is only as good as the service he gets. It is the other side we need to work a bit harder on.”

Yakubu’s injury time penalty earned Rovers a valuable point at Wigan last time out as Steve Kean’s drew their second successive away game 3-3.

It is at the other end that, perhaps surprisingly, Rovers have struggled this campaign having conceded 27 goals in 12 games, the second worst defensive record in the top flight.

Kean said: “That is the yak, he can take the pressure. Sometimes when you have a long delay on a penalty and you know it is going to be the last kick on the ball, you can get yourself in a bit of a tizz but the Yak has taken his time and that is what he is for us cool under pressure.

“It is certainly good to see one of the Blackburn players, when they do the captions in the press with top scorers, appearing on it. He is chipping away with the goals and that is always nice to see.

“Scoring goals has not been a problem, it is keeping the door closed at the other end. We have been conceding sloppy goals, which is something you can’t get out of your head. I can see every goal we have conceded. What I am doing is making sure the players see those goals as well.

“When they get into that position hopefully they make the right decision and defend it a bit better. That is not just the defenders it is all over the pitch.”

Kean is hoping to meet with the club’s directors early next week to find out his transfer budget for the January transfer window, with a midfielder and a striker on his wish list.

While he has been given no exact figure yet he insists he is confident funds will be available to make the additions he wants.

He said: “Once we get the budget we can identify the players we want to bring in to the club. There are always areas of the pitch you are looking to strengthen in.

“We are scoring goals with Yakubu but you are always looking to add goals to your team and you are always looking for different options in the midfield. We have always said we are looking to bring a midfielder in, and another striker if we can.

“We would like someone who can give us a different dimension in midfield. Someone who can give us good legs, passes the ball and can continue the service. What has been shown is if we can give good service, we have players who can create and score goals.

“On the flip side we have to close the door a little bit so it is an all round midfielder who can pass and close it up a little bit as well.”