Brighton loan ace Jan Paul van Hecke reveals Dan Ashworth chat amid Dan Burn's surprise January move to Newcastle

Jan Paul van Hecke has been an impressive performer for Blackburn this season and has been a key man in their unlikely push for promotion to the Premier League.

Van Hecke is a popular figure with Rovers' fans thanks to his passionate goal celebrations but more importantly because of nine clean sheets in 11 matches.

Tony Mowbray's Blackburn are second behind Fulham in the second tier and battling hard for an automatic promotion spot.

Van Hecke, 21, joined Rovers on a season long loan last summer but had the option to return to Brighton in January.

Despite losing Dan Burn in a £13m deadline day deal to Newcastle, Albion were keen for Van Hecke to continue his loan and be part of a team challenging at the top and playing in high pressure matches.

“I really enjoy it here," said van Hecke who signed for Brighton in 2020 from NAC Breda and is contracted with Albion until June 2023.

"In Brighton they told me it’s not that good but I really like it here, like the people, everyone is really nice and it’s always nice if you’re doing well,” he said.

Asked if there was a discussion with Brighton about a possible January return, he added: “They’ve said that I need to keep going, push for promotion.

“I have spoken with the technical director Dan (Ashworth) who said that I was doing well and that we need to keep going to the end of the season and then see.

"Blackburn are a big club, wherever you go people are talking about the team, especially if we’re doing well, I like to be here.”

“Last time I was walking my dog with my girlfriend and little kid saw me, it was really dark and I thought ‘how can he see me from there?’ and he was shouting to me and asked for a picture."

Another Albion loanee is also helping Blackburn maintain their top flight push as winger Reda Khadra has also impressed.

Van Hecke believes the loan has been hugely benificial and has enjoyed working with Mowbray.

“I had a conversation before the start of the season with him, I was there with my agent and I told him that he loves football, always talking about football and we had a conversation for an hour and I was listening to every word. It was a really good feeling.

“I told my agent I wanted to come here. I was injured but they still wanted me which was a good feeling.

“That gave me a lot of confidence and now I’ve played every minute since I came which has been really good.”