NEW-boy Marc Keller was ready to become Graeme Souness's 'Mr Versatile' as he prepared to make his Blackburn debut against Sheffield Wednesday today.
Former French international Keller signed a contract with Rovers until the end of the season in time to beat yesterday's noon deadline.
And, having played in a host of positions during a career which has taken in spells at Strasbourg and Karlsruhe, the former West Ham midfielder could turn out to be a shrewd signing as games start to come thick and fast during the promotion run-in.
"I haven't played much in the last month or so, so when this came about, it was something I had to think about," said Keller.
"And now I just want to help Blackburn get back into the Premier League where they belong.
"I'm here to be in the squad and I'll wait for my chance like the rest of the players.
"Wherever I've played in the past there's always been a lot of quality players, so competition isn't something that bothers me.
"But, generally speaking, I consider myself to be more of a wide midfield player. In France and Germany I played on the right and at West Ham I played on the left.
"I can cross with both feet and in France and Germany I tended to chip in each year with eight or nine goals.
"But I can defend as well and I've played wingback.
"So I'll play wherever the manager wants me." Keller came with an impressive pedigree when he first signed for West Ham two years ago.
This season, however, he has struggled to command a regular first team place, due largely to the emergence of home-grown talent like Joe Cole and Michael Carrick.
But now he's got the chance to get some regular games under his belt with Rovers.
And he may even consider making the arrangement permanent if the arrangement works out for both parties.
"I just want to enjoy my football again and not really have to think about the future," said Keller.
"Then, if we get promotion, we'll sit down and have time to speak.
"But I'm very excited to be here. The next couple of months are going to be very important for Blackburn.
"This club deserves to be in the Premier League and I hope to help them get back there.
"It didn't take me long to make up my mind.
"When I came here at the start of the week I was very surprised by the impressive structure of this club.
"The squad is good, the manager is good, it's a big club, and the fans seem great as well because there was 24,000 people here on Wednesday, which was brilliant for a First Division game.
"I just hope we can finish in the top two."
Meanwhile, Rovers boss Souness believes his team need to be more consistent in order to achieve their dream of promotion. "What we showed in the first half on Wednesday is what I believed we were capable of," said Souness.
"But what we have got to do is make sure our good periods last longer and our bad ones get shorter.
"We'll never dominate games for 90 minutes but we must learn that, during periods where the game might be drifting away from us, we've got to consolidate and not get dragged out of position and become vulnerable.
"We have some young players in the team who perhaps might not have grasped that yet.
"I use the word naive but not in a cruel way.
"It's just that we've got some very young players and experience is something that only comes with age.
"When we play our football, we look a match for anyone.
"But, when we go into our other mode, we look vulnerable and that's something we've got to iron out.
"We are asking some young players to grow up quickly."
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