PAUL Gallagher has revealed that he is willing to wait for his chance to become a Blackburn Rovers regular.

The teenage sensation is set for his first full international appearance tonight for Scotland as they take on Wales at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

But Gallagher still sees his greatest challenge as holding down a regular striking slot at Ewood Park as the competition for places hots up.

He had to be happy with a place on the bench last Wednesday when Andy Cole and Jonathan Stead started in attack for the Premiership home game with Newcastle United.

Although Gallagher sprung from the bench to create the all-important equalising goal for Stead, he knows there are no guarantees of his inclusion in the line-up.

And like Stead this week, the Scot has praised Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole for the role in accelerating his development as a top flight player.

"Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke are unbelievable players," said Gallagher. "You can't always expect to get in the team with the quality we have here.

"Last week we started with Andy and Jon, which is fair enough. It's not a case of me being rested, but we have 15 games left which is a lot for a young lad.

"But Jon's come in and scored two in two games so at the moment he has to start."

Stead, who is also celebrating an international baptism with England Under 21s, has helped to take some of the pressure off Gallagher, who has been hailed as the saviour of Rovers' season.

But the 19-year-old, showing an level-headed assurance that should stand him in good stead for international football, is managing to shrug off such hype.

Gallagher said: "I'm not thinking about pressure. I just go out all the time to give everything I've got.

"I do get nervous but when I came on at Old Trafford against Man United and looked round a stadium of 60,000 people, I just saw it as a tremendous experience.

"I'm enjoying it all at the moment and the Scotland call-up is just a dream come true."

The withdrawal of Dunfermline forward Stevie Crawford through injury has increased Gallagher's chances of being handed his debut by Berti Vogts.

As for Rovers, Gallagher knows the competition for forward places only underlines that they will escape relegation.

He added: "We've got a lot of quality here and we will stay up.

"We should easily have beaten Newcastle with the chances we had in the first half but we kept digging in."

Rovers reserves are in Barclaycard Premiership Reserve League North action tonight against Manchester City at Morecambe's Christie Park Gally's waiting game