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Jordan Rhodes is eligible to make his Middlesbrough FC debut against former club Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.

Prolific Championship marksman Rhodes completed a £9m move to Boro during a dramatic deadline day, with Ritchie De Laet and Julien de Sart also arriving on Teesside.

The Gazette understands there is no agreement between Boro and Rovers about not playing Rhodes when Paul Lambert's side head to the Riverside on Saturday afternoon.

That means Scotland international forward Rhodes' first Boro involvement is likely to be against his former teammates this weekend.

Rhodes moved to Ewood Park for £8m in August 2012 and scored 83 goals in 152 starts for Blackburn during a three-and-a-half year spell in Lancashire.

The 25-year-old's career record currently stands at 166 goals in 316 league games, and Rhodes has already netted 11 times for Rovers this season.

He is also the leading scorer in the top four divisions of English football since August 2012 with 85 goals - 14 more than Southampton new boy Charlie Austin in second place.

Rhodes has scored 20 goals or more in every season since 2008/09, and Boro will be confident of finishing in the top two should the striker continue that record this season.