BLACKBURN boss Mark Hughes paid a glowing tribute to Roque Santa Cruz after the in-form striker was voted the Barclay's Player of the Month for December.

The Paraguayan hitman, who has been in sparkling form of late, is the first Rovers player to scoop the award since Chris Sutton won it a decade ago.

In what was a mixed month for Rovers, Santa Cruz shone brightly, scoring six times in as many Barclays Premier League appearances to take his overall tally to 10 goals in 20 league appearances.

The 26-year-old, a bargain £3.8 million signing from Bayern Munich last summer, became the first player in over 10 years to score a Barclays Premier League hat-trick in a losing cause as Rovers were defeated in an eight-goal thriller at Wigan Athletic.

Then he continued his blistering goalscoring form with a brace in the draw at Eastlands, which ended Manchester City's one hundred per cent home league record, before scoring again in the win against Derby County at Pride Park on December 30.

FROM BACK PAGE On top of that, Santa Cruz also scored two more in the Carling Cup defeat to Arsenal shortly before Christmas, taking his overall tally for December to eight.

Paying tribute to his leading scorer, Hughes said: "We are delighted with Roque's performances.

"He's been absolutely magnificent since he came through the door, not only with his technical ability and his power and his pace, and the impact that he's had in games, but with his character and his personality.

"He settled in very quickly and the fact that he's happy off the pitch has enabled him to be successful on it, and we are delighted that he has been recognised in this way.

"In fairness, I don't think they could have given it to anyone else!"

The decision was made by the Barclays Awards Panel, which includes representatives from football's governing bodies, the media and fans, and Santa Cruz was presented with his award at Brockhall yesterday.

Now Hughes is hoping the striker can shake off a groin injury in time to face Bolton Wanderers at the Reebok tomorrow.

With Tugay and Brett Emerton already ruled out through injury, and David Dunn also struggling to shake off an Achilles problem, Hughes can ill afford to lose his main striker as well as Rovers look to bounce back from last week's embarrassing FA Cup defeat at the hands of Coventry City.