John Eustace believes there is more to come from Makhtar Gueye after his eye-catching debut at Ewood Park.

The big striker impressed in the first half before running out of steam in the second. His hold-up play and clever movement made an instant impression on the Ewood Park faithful.

He was not the only player not yet up to match sharpness. Ryan Hedges is still finding his rhythm whilst Joe Rankin-Costello had a knock going into the contest with Derby.

"Makhtar, that's his second game in all of pre-season. There's a lot more to come from big man," Eustace told The Lancashire Telegraph.

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"He gives us a different option. He looked after the ball very well and you can see already the fans have taken to him. Hopefully, he'll score a few goals as well.

"Makhtar came off with cramp, he was just a bit tired. Hedgey has only had two 45 minutes, he hit a brick wall after half an hour but a great effort to get to 60 minutes.

"Joe Rankin-Costello had a hamstring injury pre-game and was struggling but he got through an hour. We're trying to get everyone back to full speed.

"Yuki's work rate off the ball was excellent up against two big, strong centre-backs. He seems to enjoy that. Makhtar the same and for their proper debuts I thought they were both very good. What a class finish it was too."

Lewis Travis has retained the Rovers captaincy having spent January onwards on loan at Ipswich Town. He was the sponsor's Player of the Match in what was his first Ewood Park start since November 29, 2023.

"I thought he was great and he's been fantastic whilst I've been here during pre-season," Eustace said on the decision to give him the armband.

"He's been very good, he's a leader and you can see he loves the football club. We want good people at the club, he's a top player and a very good lad."