THE Blackburn Rovers club shop in the town centre has been cleaned out of ‘Rudy Gestede Special’ T-shirts – by the man whose face adorns them!

Before Saturday’s final game of the season at home to Wigan Athletic red-hot Rovers striker Gestede snaffled up the remaining T-shirts from the store on Church Street.

Not that Gestede, who bagged a brilliant brace in the 4-3 win over Wigan, was finished there.

The towering targetman also bought 15 replica home shirts and 10 replica away shirts, all of which were emblazoned with his name and squad number, 39.

Gestede intends to hand out the replica shirts and ‘Special’ T-shirts to members of his proud family back home in France.

A Rovers club spokesman said: “It is fantastic to see the big man buying products from the store.

“The range of personalised t-shirts have proved very popular with supporters.

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“And it’s clear to see that they’ve proved just as popular with the players themselves!”

Gestede has certainly proved popular with Rovers fans and his team-mates alike since he made the move from Cardiff City in November.

The 25-year-old, who was born in France but plays internationally for West African nation Benin, scored 13 goals in 28 appearances as Gary Bowyer’s side came within touching distance of a place in the play-offs.

Rovers finished just two points outside the top six despite the efforts of Gestede.

All of his 13 goals came after the turn of the New Year which, along with Bournemouth’s Lewis Grabban, was the most in the Championship, with nine coming in his last nine games of the campaign.

Gestede’s stunning end-of-season form earned him the Championship player of the month award for April and a ringing endorsement from his Rovers boss following the thrilling final-day victory over Wigan.

Bowyer said: “Rudy, what can you say about the big man?

“What a contribution he’s made to the football club.”

The designs of the ‘Rudy Gestede Special’ T-shirts are a take on the logo of seminal Coventry band The Specials, who had a UK top-10 hit with ‘A Message to You, Rudy’ in 1979.

And while Gestede has ensured the T-shirts have sold out in the club shop in Blackburn town centre, they are still available to buy from Rovers’ online store, priced £11.99, at onerovers.co.uk Tom Cairney, Jordan Rhodes and David Dunn also feature in the personalised T-shirt range.