BLACKBURN manager Mark Hughes hailed the performance of Benni McCarthy after the striker was the inspiration behind Saturday's 2-0 victory over Fulham.

Rovers recorded their first Premier League victory in seven attempts at the expense of the Londoners, and Hughes was full of praise for the role McCarthy played in their downfall, the South African grabbing the second goal to cap a man-of-the-match performance.

The former Porto striker has now scored eight times in 20 appearances for Rovers, and Hughes believes he is already proving to be one of the bargains of the season.

The Rovers boss said: "Benni's got great qualities. Playing in the Premiership is a sharp learning curve for all strikers.

"Look at the strikers at other clubs who've struggled to make the impact that Benni has done, so I'm absolutely delighted with him.

"He's a guy that plays with a smile on his face, he's a pleasure to work with, he's got a good attitude to his work on a day-to-day basis, and he's made an impact with the goals he's scored for us so far.

"It's not easy getting hold of decent strikers.

"You can find them but you usually have to pay a hefty premium to get the quality that you need, so I'm delighted with the quality that I've been able to bring to the club."

McCarthy's strike-partner Shabani Nonda, who grabbed Rovers' opener on Saturday, also paid tribute to his fellow African.

"When I arrived here, me and Benni knew each other but we had never played together," said Nonda.

"Now we are starting to understand each other and I think we can score many goals together.

"Benni's a very intelligent player and you don't become two-times African player of the year for nothing."

Hughes felt both of his strikers benefited from a more direct approach against Fulham.

With Tugay absent in midfield, Hughes ordered his players to get the ball forward quickly, and it proved Fulham's undoing.

"I think we looked to the strikers a little bit earlier than we have done in recent weeks," said Hughes.

"At times, we've possibly taken that extra pass because we've been comfortable in possession and we haven't hit the front guys as early as we've needed to, but that wasn't the case (on Saturday) and I think that was the difference."

Now Hughes hopes Saturday's performance will prove to be a catalyst for a surge up the table.

"If we can get three points tomorrow against Charlton then that will be 19 points on the board after 15 games, and we only had 18 at the same stage last season.

"When you factor in injuries and suspensions we've had, there have been occasions when we've had five, six or even seven players missing, and we haven't been able to cope with that at times but I thought on Saturday everyone was excellent."

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