HE may not have spent a penny during a summer of unprecedented spending – but Gary Bowyer believes Blackburn Rovers have done the best business by keeping hold of Jordan Rhodes.

While their Championship rivals shelled out nearly £100m on new recruits during the transfer window Rovers were restricted to frees and loans given their Financial Fair Play embargo.

They also lost Rudy Gestede to Aston Villa, Josh King to Bournemouth and Tom Cairney to tomorrow’s opponents Fulham for a combined fee of around £10.5m.

But, to the delight of their manager, Rovers managed to retain the services of Rhodes after a £12m bid from Middlesbrough was rejected by owners Venky’s.

No-one has scored more goals in the second-tier of English football in the past three seasons than the prolific Scottish striker.

And Bowyer is backing Rhodes to get on the goal trail in tomorrow’s Craven Cottage clash after using the international break to fully recover from the ankle injury that meant he trained just once before taking to the field against Bolton Wanderers last time out.

“I think if you look at all the money that has been spent in the window and, apart from the three that have left here, Rudy, Kingy and Cairney, we’ve done the best bit of business by keeping hold of Jordan Rhodes,” said Rovers boss Bowyer, speaking publicly for the first time since the window closed.

“It’s a fantastic bit of business by the club – it’s as simple as that. He’s an unbelievable finisher and even though he’d only trained one day before playing against Bolton, he still got his opportunities.

“He’s had two great weeks with us now, he looks really sharp, and we just can’t wait for him to start scoring goals.”

Rhodes, who is one goal shy of his 75th for the club, fired Rovers to a 1-0 win at Fulham last season.

And Bowyer said: “It was an unbelievable finish. I don’t think people gave him enough credit for the type of finish it was, the way that he took it.

“Hopefully it’ll be the same performance and same result on Sunday. That would be very welcome for us.”

Lancashire Telegraph:

Rovers head to Fulham still searching for their first victory of the campaign.

“All you can do is keep working ever so hard and keep doing the right things,” said Bowyer.

“The last three games, the number of chances we have created has been really good.

“The players have held their nerve, they’ve kept their spirit going and, as well as the return of Jordan Rhodes, Fode Koita looks even better now, now that he’s had these two weeks.

“And it’s the same for all the lads who came in just before the start of the season. They’ve got up to speed.

“It’s only a matter of time before we get that win, which will give everybody a massive boost.”

The longest winless run of Bowyer’s Rovers reign has led to speculation over his future and last month the club were forced to deny a report that he had been sacked.

At the time he had not spoken to the club’s Indian-based owners Venky’s. He has, however, since been in contact with them.

“I spoke with them last week, they were fine, no problem, and we just talked about how we can keep getting better,” said Bowyer.

“They’re fully aware of the situation, they’re aware that since we took over we’ve reduced the wage bill by £20-odd million, and at the same time, we’ve bought sensibly, and used their money wisely, and when we’ve had to cash-in, to use a phrase, there have been massive profits on the output.”