JORDAN RHODES does not intend to celebrate if he scores against his former club, Blackburn, this afternoon, but Middlesbrough’s new £9m man insists there can be no room for sentimentality as he looks to begin the process of firing his new club into the Premier League.

Rhodes left Blackburn to move to the Riverside on Monday, and will immediately be reunited with his former employers when he makes his Middlesbrough debut.

It remains to be seen whether the Scotland international is promoted straight into the starting line-up or begins on the bench, but there was never any question of Middlesbrough signing up to an agreement that might have seen Rhodes prevented from facing a group of players who were his team-mates as recently as last weekend.

The 26-year-old intends to be as respectful as possible after three-and-a-half enjoyable seasons at Ewood Park, but after scoring three goals in his first three games as a Blackburn player, he is keen to make a similarly immediate impact with Boro.

“I’d like to think that if I did score, it (the celebrations) would be muted,” said Rhodes, who boasts ten goals from 25 Championship matches so far this season. “I’ve tried to have that in mind when I’ve played against my former teams in the past.

“It was the case with Brentford, and when I’ve played against Ipswich and Huddersfield before. I’ve tried to have muted celebrations, although you just don’t know how the game is going to go or when you’re going to score.

“Maybe it’s better off getting them first, and getting the whole thing out of the way. You’re going to have to come up against them at some point in your new career.

“It is what it is, and there are no two ways around that. I’m just going to have to prepare and adapt as I would for any other game.”

Aitor Karanka claims to have settled on his starting line-up a couple of days ago, and while the Boro boss admits he has had to factor the identity of this afternoon’s opponents into his thinking, he expects the challenge of facing Blackburn to provide added motivation if Rhodes is called into action this afternoon.

Rhodes’ hopes of receiving a warm welcome from the visiting supporters are likely to fall on deaf ears, but Karanka will urge the striker to use any booing to his own advantage.

The Spaniard, a proud Basque, spent four years playing for Athletic Bilbao at the start of his career, and vividly remembers his first meeting with his former employers after he moved to Real Madrid.

“I played for 90 minutes, and the Athletic Bilbao crowd must have booed me for 92,” said Karanka. “I can’t forget that, but every single minute made me more motivated. It should act as a motivation for Jordan if that happens too.

“It was really difficult for me to play against them because I was playing against players who were my friends. I had been training with them for four or five years.

“It was difficult to play against them, but when you are on the pitch, the harder the atmosphere, the stronger you are. If you want to be a player, you have to accept the pressure.”

Rhodes dealt with the pressure of his £8m price tag at Blackburn effectively, scoring 27 league goals in his first season with Rovers before claiming 25 and 21 in his subsequent campaigns.

He has long been regarded as one of the most reliable and instinctive finishers in the whole of the Football League, although his failure to land a move to the Premier League perhaps reflects the questions that exist over the strength of his all-round play and the effectiveness of his work outside the penalty area.

Rhodes readily accepts that he is not the complete package, but having now made transfers worth more than £17m, the Oldham-born striker is confident he possesses the necessary attributes to make a success of his most recent move.

“I like to think I’m a good mover in the box, and I try to find myself in space,” he said. “I just try to anticipate where things are going – that’s a big part of my game.

“I’m not necessarily the strongest or quickest, but I pride myself on my fitness and I think I’m one of the fittest players who play up front.”