Blackburn Rovers: John Eustace has responded to Rangers, Todd Cantwell challenge perfectly | OneFootball

John Eustace has handled Todd Cantwell exceptionally well.

Blackburn Rovers are still well set for a tilt at the play-offs, despite a disappointing couple of weeks.

Having picked up 18 points from their opening ten fixtures, the last five games have seen them drop off somewhat with just one win in that period.

However, despite that poor run, the recent emergence of Todd Cantwell will be pleasing for boss John Eustace, who has bided his time with the permanent signing from Rangers.

If Eustace can continue to tune performances out of the attacking midfielder, then they will have picked up a real gem.

No stranger to the Championship, the 26-year-old has made 97 appearances to date in the second tier, with the majority of them coming at Norwich City.

Now approaching the so-called 'prime' of his career, Cantwell will be eager to put his recent struggles behind him and find stability.

If the early months of the season are anything to go by, it seems he has finally found a new home at Ewood Park, and he will be thankful to Eustace for the way he's eased him in.

John Eustace has utilised Cantwell perfectly

Eustace has already a relatively successful spell at Blackburn and his handling of Cantwell exemplifies this perfectly.

Having signed the midfielder for a bargain fee of £500,000 from Rangers, many head coaches would have just thrust their new signing straight into the starting line-up. But, with Cantwell having been excluded from first-team training at the Gers, it made sense for Eustace to bide his time.

His first month at the club saw him limited to just 72 minutes of action across three games, as they looked to get him back up to speed in the Championship. During this period, Cantwell made a vital contribution as his cross was headed in by Danny Batth in a 2-0 win over QPR.

Since then, he has started all but one game and his performances have progressively got better. Against Swansea City he was the standout player, picking up a lovely assist as he crossed the ball in for Tyrhys Dolan and he has continued since then, with impressive displays against Cardiff and Stoke.

Eustace has to take some of the credit for this, as he has managed Cantwell superbly. By resisting the urge to rush him in, he has allowed the attacking midfielder to develop at his own pace and the following weeks will likely see improvements continue.

Cantwell's career could be back on track

In a similar vein to Jack Grealish's time at Aston Villa, Cantwell was always seen as a bit of a maverick at Norwich who had footballing ability on another level.

Unfortunately, it never quite worked out at the Canaries as despite showing glimpses of brilliance in the Premier League and Championship, he was eventually frozen out by former Norwich manager, Dean Smith.

At Rangers ,it seemed he was back on track, but his relationship diminished with Phillipe Clement and his subsequent departure was best for both parties.

Now at Ewood Park, he may have finally found his home and speaking to the press it seems he believes he can show new levels: “It’s really important now to kick on and show people the fully fit Todd.

“You can’t really be judged on your output until you’ve had five or six starts. Ask most professionals and they’ll probably say that coming off the bench is very different to starting a game.

“I’ve got those starts under my belt now and I’m really looking forward to football coming back.

“I think I’ve been solid, trustworthy and have brought a technical aspect to games, but there’s a lot more to come from me and I’m really looking forward to the games we have coming up.

“I’ve probably only hit 70 percent so far, which can be deemed as good or bad, but that’s an honest reflection."

Blackburn fans will be hoping he picks up even more then and if he can increase his output further, it will have been an unbelievable pick-up from Rovers and some top management from Eustace.