BLACKBURN Rovers manager Mark Hughes has jumped to the defence of Andre Ooijer, insisting it's only a matter of time before the Dutchman finds his feet in the Premiership.

Ooijer has made a shaky start to his Rovers career, conceding a penalty on his debut against Chelsea three weeks ago, then scoring an own goal in Sunday's 4-2 victory against Manchester City.

Those mistakes have led to the 32-year-old being made the scapegoat for some less than convincing defensive performances by the team as a whole.

However, Hughes believes it's far too early to judge the former PSV Eindhoven star, who's still adjusting to the frenetic pace of the Premiership.

Speaking ahead of tomorrow's trip to Middlesbrough, Hughes said: "People have highlighted Andre but it's difficult for any guy to come in, and he hasn't had the benefit of a full pre-season either.

"He missed all the work we did with the rest of the lads, but he's a proven international and it's a case of giving him a little bit more time.

"There are areas where he will have to adjust quickly because English football is very different to what he's used to.

"But, because of the qualities and experience he has, that will happen very, very quickly.

"You see people at other so-called higher profile clubs, who've been there six to 12 months, and they're still saying they haven't come to terms with it yet, so it's very unfair to highlight Andre when he's only had three or four games for us."

Hughes is quick to draw parallels between Ooijer's situation at Rovers, and that of the former PSV player, Jaap Stam, who also struggled to adjust to the pace of the English game initially when he joined Manchester United in 1998.

Twelve months later, however, Stam became the cornerstone of the United team that won the treble, so Hughes is pleading with Rovers fans to give his Dutch defender more time.

"It's still very, very early days and we haven't had a great deal of time to work on what I'm looking for, and what I expect of the new guys that have come in," said Hughes.

"It's difficult to be judged on the last few games.

"At big clubs, you get more time. But here, you make a signing and they're expected to produce straight away.

"I think Andre's done okay in the games he's had so far, so I don't think his form is an issue.

"He'll get more in tune with his team-mates as time goes on, and they'll get to know exactly how he plays. So he'll be fine."

Despite Hughes' passionate defence of Ooijer, the Rovers boss accepts the whole of his back four need to start defending better than they have done in the opening weeks of the season.

"I think if you look at the back four we have at the moment, it's completely different from last year," said the Rovers boss.

"The unfortunate thing for the whole team is the fact we've never had a sustained period where we've really been able to bed things down, and really highlight areas that we have concerns about.

"If you look at the beginning of the season, we've had internationals and European games, so leading into games, we've never really had more than one day's training where we can highlight things.

"At this stage in the season, particularly when you've got new players in the club, you'd prefer to have more time leading into games, but we just haven't had that luxury.

"That's not an excuse, it's a fact. I know other teams are in the same boat, and I think it's affected everybody."