Graeme Souness gave some indication of the esteem in which he holds winger Damien Duff after the Dubliner won three points for Blackburn at West Brom last night.
The Republic of Ireland international was brought down for the penalty which put Rovers ahead in the 70th minute then scored himself with a clinical finish five minutes later to seal a 2-0 win.
Despite his decisive intervention in a tame encounter, Souness said: "I thought Damien had quite a quiet night by his standards.
"He's been out for several weeks but he did well for his goal. Damien is a proper player".
Duff is likely to be called into action again by Souness in Thursday's UEFA Cup trip to Sofia after Dwight Yorke, who opened the scoring from the penalty spot, limped off injured.