AITOR KARANKA will continue to keep a close eye on Blackburn Rovers striker Jordan Rhodes after admitting he has been impressed with the Scotsman’s attitude in the wake of the collapse of his proposed summer move to the Riverside.

Rhodes submitted a written transfer request in an attempt to force through a move to Middlesbrough, but despite the Teessiders tabling a package that might eventually have been worth around £13m, Blackburn’s owners, the Venkys, rejected the offer.

With Rudy Gestede leaving Ewood Park to join Aston Villa, Rhodes was told he was going nowhere, but rather than sulking his way through the early weeks of the season, the Scotland international has buckled down to successfully enhance his claims as the most reliable goalscorer in the Championship.

His nine Championship goals to date follow tallies of 21 last season and 25 the season before that, and are likely to mean he is the subject of more interest when the transfer window reopens at the start of next month.

Both Sheffield Wednesday and Hull City have been linked with a possible January approach, and while Boro’s £4m summer purchase of David Nugent means they are unlikely to be on the look-out for a new striker next month, the strength of Karanka’s admiration for Rhodes means he would be reluctant to allow the 25-year-old to move elsewhere without making a new move of his own.

“His performances this season show why we wanted to sign him, and why Blackburn did not want to sell him,” said the Boro boss. “He is a really good player, and we all know how good he is.

“He has conducted himself really well this season, but I did not have any doubt that he would do that. My assistant, Steve (Agnew), is his uncle, so even though I have never met or spoken with Jordan, I know what he is about.

“When you hear his uncle speak about Jordan, you can tell that he is a really good kid. His performances are always good, and he is always scoring goals.”

While Rhodes is a player who might have been representing Boro had things turned out differently in the summer, his Blackburn team-mate, Jason Steele, already boasts more than 140 appearances in a Boro shirt from the start of his career.

The Newton Aycliffe-born goalkeeper was sent off in Karanka’s opening game at Leeds and was unable to force his way back into the first-team picture, with a loan move to Blackburn preceding a permanent switch to Lancashire in January.

He remains one of the most high-profile casualties of the Karanka era, with Boro’s head coach claiming it was an easy decision to let him go even though he was a popular figure with the Middlesbrough fans.

“It wasn’t a difficult decision because at the time when I came here he was unlucky,” said Karanka. “He had an operation and Dimi (Konstantopoulos) started to play, and Dimi did a really good job. He got sent off, and in the following week he had an operation.

“Then when he was injured we brought in Tomas (Mejias), and in the following pre-season with Jason, I didn't want to keep a player who has potential and wants to play without playing.

“He’s a good goalkeeper, so for that reason he decided to leave, and we felt it was the best decision for everybody. Dimi, who was third goalkeeper, is now the number one and has gone six games without conceding a goal. Nobody knows what might have happened had Jason played the first game without being sent off.”

Today’s game will be Steele’s first meeting with his former club, and the 25-year-old has been as impressed as anyone at Middlesbrough’s remarkable defensive record in the last few weeks.

Last weekend’s clean sheet at Brighton was Boro’s sixth in their last six games, and they have only conceded three Championship goals since the middle of October.

“It’s outrageous,” said Steele, whose farewell Boro appearance came in the 4-1 win at Yeovil Town on the final day of the 2013-14 season. “I can’t remember the last time I saw anybody score against them.

“Hopefully it will be us on Boxing Day, but it’s going to be a big acid test because we’re going to be playing against the best team in the league.

“They’re on the best run, and we’ve got to make sure we’re up to it. They’ve spent a lot of money so everybody expected them to be there, but when the expectation is there, it’s dealing with it, and I think they’ve dealt with it very well.”