The Saturday Interview. . .

FOR most people, mastering one sport proves tough enough.

Hacking away on the golf course to no avail, being sent to field at third man, or worst of all, being told to go in goal are all familiar tales of woe for the average man on the street.

But Blackburn Rovers' new signing Morten Gamst Pedersen has no such problems.

Not content with being a good enough footballer to have already played four times for his country, Norway, he also happens to be a dab hand at a few other sports.

His father Ernst, who was at Brockhall last Friday to see his son's first training session with the club, said: "Morten plays handball very well, he was in the national squad until he was 16, then he decided to go on in football.

"He also ran in the mountains and played some ice hockey, and when he was between 10 and 12, he also worked in the gym."

The left-sided midfielder put pen to paper on his £1.5m move from Tromso, where he had already scored 10 goals in the April to October Norwegian season, the evening before that first workout with his new team-mates.

He was originally spotted by Rovers boss Graeme Souness, who had travelled to Belfast in February to watch then Rovers player Martin Andresen play for Norway against Northern Ireland.

But it was Pedersen, on his international debut, who stole the show, scoring two first half goals in a 4-1 win.

Souness has been keen to secure the 23-year-old's signature since that first sighting, but it took quite some time to convince his club to let him go.

Pedersen said: "Yes, it's been a long time, the first time was in May. They tried to buy me but the club said no, but they were interested before that.

"They looked at me in February, so they've been looking at me for a long time, but now I'm here in England."

A Manchester United fan as a kid, Pedersen is delighted that Rovers have enabled him to realise a long held ambition - to play in the Premiership.

He said: "Of course, it's been a dream since I was young. All the people have been very nice and it seems a very good club, so I'm really happy to be here."

Ironically, Pedersen made his Blackburn debut against United in last week's 1-1 draw at Ewood Park, and admitted to having a few nerves about playing in front of a 25,000-plus crowd - a stark contrast to Tromso, who average around 6,000 fans for a home match.

"I had butterflies in my stomach before the game. It's big for me to play in front of a good crowd," he said.

He helped to set up Rovers' goal when one of his long throws, for which he is famous in his home country, led to Paul Dickov putting Blackburn ahead.

But he missed his opportunity for instant glory, blazing over the bar late on when a calmer finish could have sealed a game which ultimately Rovers failed to win after having Lorenzo Amoruso sent off.

"I could have scored to make it 2-0, and that would have been extraordinary for me," Pedersen admitted.

"There was a lot of running, especially when you get a player sent off, so it was very tough, but hopefully I will get used to it."

One thing that should help him, though, is the guidance of a father who played the game at the highest level himself.

Ernst Pedersen played for leading Norwegians Viking Stavanger, and enjoyed considerable success.

"I'm close to 50 now, but in the 70s and 80s I played in the top league in Norway as a defender and won the cup and the league," he said.

Those achievements encouraged Morten to take up the game himself, without the need for arm-twisting.

And it was a suggestion from his father, who also coached Morten in his youth, that aided his prospects of making it as a professional - he told him to become left-footed.

Morten revealed: "I was right-footed until I was 15, before I started practising with my left, but I could always shoot with both feet, although my right foot was the dominant leg, so it was just a case of my left foot taking over.

"I can use both feet, but now my left foot is stronger."

Pedersen is the latest in a long line of Norwegians who have pulled on the famous blue and white halves.

The club have a strong tradition of signing players from the Nordic country, with Henning Berg, Lars Bohinen, Egil Ostenstad, Stig Inge Bjornebye, Andresen and two more Pedersens (Per and Tore) all having graced Ewood in the last decade.

That tradition has gone a long way to encouraging the Blackburn Rovers Supporters Club Norway, formed in 1999 and currently including 131 members, to make the journey to England to watch Pedersen's Premiership bow.

"It gives us an extra boost as we'll get more members," said Bjarte Bakke, leader of the Norwegian branch of Rovers' supporters club.

English football is popular fare in the Scandinavian country, with Norwegian television showing six live Premiership matches every weekend.

For Pedersen's debut, they even had a Blackburn fan in the studio to cover the game.

But why, when Manchester United and Liverpool are the fashionable choices for Norwegians looking for an English team to support, did this group choose Rovers?

Ronny Losoa, the man who organised last week's trip, explained why he first started following Rovers in the 90s.

"I liked their style of play, with two wingers, Wilcox and Ripley, and of course Alan Shearer."

The group, who plan to make four or five more trips to Ewood this season, list Damien Duff, Alan Shearer, Henning Berg amongst their favourite Blackburn players, but Colin Hendry got the majority verdict.

"He was a hard player, he gave everything for the cause," Losoa said.

Their favourite Blackburn moments include the winning of the Premiership and the Worthington Cup, and Matt Jansen's goal at Preston that sealed the Rovers' return to the top flight in 2001.

And with Jansen's continued presence at the club, maybe Pedersen will add concert pianist to his impressive CV in a year or two.