NIKOLA Kalinic still has a lot to live up to at Blackburn Rovers after becoming one of the club’s priciest ever signings when he arrived from Hajduk Split for £6million back in August 2009.

Only Andy Cole, Kevin Davies, Corrado Grabbi and Barry Ferguson have ever cost Rovers more and, going on their limited success at Ewood Park, the omens were not great for the so-called ‘future of Croatian football’ from the off.

Just 28 starts and six goals in the Premier League later and Kalinic still has it all to prove, but manager Steve Kean is confident he has the mentality to ultimately become a bargain.

The 23-year-old was brought up in Croatia during the war of independence and Kean believes his childhood experiences have seen him become a ‘tough’ individual.

He returns to Rovers’ squad for Newcastle United’s visit this afternoon on a back of a brace in his national team’s 4-2 win over the Czech Republic, having been left out of the squad for last weekend’s defeat at Wigan.

“I have no doubt he will do well for us,” said Kean.

“He has a very tough mentality, he doesn’t let things get to him. Even when he is taken off in games he is not a sulker.

“When he is not starting he gets on with things. When we do the finishing drills though he certainly knows where the goal is. His striking of the ball is fantastic.

“When you do sit down and talk to him one on one, he is a tough boy. He has come through a lot of hardship and seen things people wouldn’t like to see.

“That, together with his footballing skills, makes him a tough boy who can take the knocks.

"I don’t just mean the physical knocks, I mean the times when he is not playing well and is substituted or when thinks he should be starting.

"Hopefully he is tough enough and I certainly think he is.”

When Sam Allardyce brought Kalinic to England he always warned Rovers fans it would take him a while to adjust to the Premier League.

No one has expected it take quite as long as it has.

He has shown more glimpses of his potential so far this campaign, including a notable double at West Brom, and Kean hopes Rovers’ new attacking style will help him become a hit at Ewood.

“What will certainly help him is playing as one of two strikers,” said Kean. “Lots of times it has been tough for him since he has come over here.

“He came into this league, a very physical league, and if you are up there on your own it is a very lonely job at times.

"I think he will benefit from having a strike partner up there with him.

"If you look back to before he came here, he predominantly played with two strikers and I think that will bring out the best in him.

“It was always going to take time to integrate and looking back at the games where he was up there on his own, it was difficult for him to get in the positions where he scored his goals for Croatia and his old club.

“It has probably been a mixture of everything. His age, not being able to communicate as well with his team mates, playing on his own, a different intensity rather than the slower build up of Croatia. Here it is about so much power and he has probably taken a little longer than we thought to adapt to it.”

Kalinic is not guaranteed a start this afternoon, with the fit again Roque Santa Cruz joining the likes of Benjani, Mame Biram Diouf and Jason Roberts also battling for a place in attack.

Kean said: “Niko’s finishing is fantastic. You do all the repetition on finishing in training and when you see Niko in front of goal, his actual timing and technique is brilliant and exactly what you would ask younger kids to learn from.

“He could prove a bargain for us because what you are doing is buying potential.

"If you have a young player that has shown he can finish and if you can bring him to our level and develop him, then I don’t think £6m for a scorer is too much if he can get up to the 20 goals. He has to get there first.

“In all honesty it probably will take another season before he is really flying but in the tail end of this season hopefully it all comes together for him.

"He has got the technique, he has got the desire and the taste of it and hopefully we will see it before the end of the season.

“We have the added advantage we have five strikers now.

"We can do different permutations, we can make impact substitutions, you can have a target man, one that prefers to run in behind, you can have a goal poacher like Niko.

"We have got lots of different options and all our strikers are cutting each others throats for positions so it is good.

“I have always seen him as Davor Suker. If he can get to that level then we have a player on our hands.”