BLACKBURN Rovers' latest signing, Michael Gray, today told supporters: 'Don't expect me to be the new Damien Duff.'

Gray will make his Rovers debut against high-flying Chelsea at Ewood Park tomorrow.

However, he won't come face to face with the man he has been brought in to replace, as it was confirmed yesterday that Duff has lost his battle to recover from a calf injury.

But Gray has been quick to warn fans not to expect him to produce the kind of mesmerising performances that Duff turned in on a regular basis when he occupied the left flank at Blackburn.

Rovers boss Graeme Souness has been desperate to sign a natural left-sided player ever since Duff left for Chelsea last summer and he now thinks Gray could be that man.

But the versatile 29-year-old insists it's impossible to draw comparisons between the two.

"Damien Duff is a tremendous player," said Gray.

"There's not many left-siders like him and I know how much the Blackburn public rated him when he was here -- and rightly so.

"He ended up going for £17 million and he went to a great club who are flying at the moment and doing ever so well.

"So, hopefully, the fans' expectations of me will not be like that.

"If the manager wants me to do a job on the left hand side of midfield, then I'll do a job but my favourite position is left-back."

Gray joined Rovers earlier this week after signing a two and a half year deal with the former Premier League champions.

But he also had offers to go elsewhere, namely from Bolton Wanderers and Celtic, where he spent four months on loan earlier this season and played in the Champions League.

"I had four great months there. To play for a huge club like Celtic was an added bonus," said Gray.

"I got the chance to experience playing in the Champions League, which is something that would never have happened to me at Sunderland.

"That was a massive experience for me and it's something I'll never forget.

"I was close to going there but the opportunity to play in the Premiership again was simply too good to turn down."

Once he made up his mind that he wanted to stay in England, it came down to a straight choice between Rovers and Bolton.

Both clubs contacted Sunderland to discuss the possibility of a deal but it was Graeme Souness's powers of persuasion that ultimately won the day.

Gray said: "I spoke to my agent a couple of times about the Bolton thing and I think both chairmen were also speaking to each other.

"So it was an on-going thing but sometimes these situations come down to financial things and it sort of got to that stage.

"When I came down to Blackburn, there was an offer there which was great for myself and it was right for me so I made my decision very quickly."

Former Rovers player Jason McAteer also played a part in that process, too.

Gray consulted the Republic of Ireland international, who was one of his team-mates at the Stadium of Light, before finally putting pen to paper.

"I got in touch with him and asked him what it was like and Jason said he had some great times here," added Gray.

"He's a smashing lad, who gets on well with everyone at Sunderland, so I took his advice on board but at the end of the day, it was my decision and it's a decision that I'm very pleased with."