DAVID Dunn has no doubt that Jordan Rhodes will remain fully focused and continue to get goals for Blackburn Rovers after they were successful in their attempts to keep the star striker this summer.

But Dunn believes it would have been better for Rhodes and for the club had he completed a big-money move to Middlesbrough.

Rovers owners Venky’s rejected a £12m bid from Boro for the prolific forward and made it clear to any other Championship club interested in acquiring his services that they had no intention of selling to a league rival.

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And, with the transfer window closing last Tuesday, that means Rhodes will remain at Ewood Park until January at least.

Dunn, who played alongside the Scotland international for three seasons at Rovers, said: “Rhodesy is a fantastic finisher and I’m sure everything that has happened this summer won’t affect him.

“He’s a really level-headed lad, a lovely lad, and there is no question he will give 100 per cent every time he pulls on a Blackburn Rovers shirt.

“And there is no question he will continue to score them goals.

“However, if I’m being brutally honest, when they got the bid in from Middlesbrough, I think for all concerned it would have been a good move to accept it.

“Middlesbrough would have been getting a fantastic goalscorer, it would have been a new challenge for Jordan at a club he maybe feels has a better chance of promotion, and Blackburn would have been getting £12m or whatever the numbers were.

“Now there is no way they would have wanted to lose him but to get a return like that on a player nowadays is great.

“But the window is closed now and I’ve got to agree with the manager (Gary Bowyer), I think it would probably be better off ending before the first kick ball is kicked.

“It would make things a lot easier and it would allow people to concentrate on football rather than all the other business that comes with it.”

Rovers sold Rudy Gestede and Tom Cairney in the summer and had they cashed in on Rhodes that would have led to having their Financial Fair Play embargo removed.

Dunn admits the embargo makes like difficult for his former boss Bowyer who has been restricted to free transfers and loan signings since January.

But the 35-year-old believes Rovers, who have finished eighth and ninth in the last two seasons, still have more than enough to be competitive.

“There is quality in that squad,” said Dunn, who ended his long association with the club in the summer before he moved to Oldham Athletic.

“Obviously Rudy is a big miss, Tom Cairney’s a big miss, and obviously myself is the biggest one!

“But other than that Gaz has not lost too many and he’s brought in the likes of Danny Guthrie, who has got a lot of experience, and when you look at the other signings they have made, you’d like to think they will be competitive.

“With the implications of the Financial Fair Play embargo, I’m sure it’s very difficult when you can’t pay a transfer fee.

“But I’m sure the playing budget will still be competitive.”