DAVID Dunn today hailed Gianfranco Zola as one of the Premiership's 'greatest ever foreign imports' as the little Italian prepares to celebrate a major milestone against Blackburn tomorrow.

The 36-year-old striker will make his 300th appearance for Chelsea if he's named in Claudio Ranieri's team to face Rovers at Stamford Bridge.

And Dunn admits he's a fully paid up member of the Zola fan club.

"Gianfranco Zola is one of those top players who's always capable of pulling something out of the bag when you need it the most," said Dunn, who's hoping to make his comeback from a hamstring injury tomorrow.

"He did that against us earlier this season when he conjured up a brilliant goal to beat us at Ewood and he's been doing that kind of thing throughout his career.

"When you look at what he's achieved at Chelsea then you'd have to say he's one of the greatest imports the Premiership has ever had.

"But he's not just a great player, he seems to be a great pro as well.

"Just look at him now. He's still perfoming at the top level at the age of 36 or 37.

"And he's not just playing, he's playing well."

Some Premiership managers have come in for heavy criticism in the past for drafting in too many cheap imports, which has restricted the development of home-grown talent.

But Dunn believes the influx of players like Zola can only help to improve general standards across the board, and he points to Rovers as a typical example.

"You can only learn off players like Gianfranco Zola," said the Rovers midfielder.

"We are lucky with the foreign players we've got at Blackburn because the likes of Henning Berg are fantastic professionals.

"But I don't agree with the argument about some foreigners being bad for our game anyway.

"There's good and bad in everyone and it doesn't matter where you come from."

Signed by Ruud Gullit, Zola arrived in England with an impressive reputation having enjoyed years of success in his native Italy.

He won an Italian Championship medal with Napoli in 1990 where he became Diego Maradona's successor.

Then a move to Parma in 1993 brought him further silverware in the shape of the European Super Cup and the UEFA Cup, not to mention runners-up medals in the European Cup Winners Cup, the Italian Championship and the Italian Cup.

That run of success then continued in England where he was instrumental in leading Chelsea to FA Cup glory in his first full season -- their first major knockout trophy in 26 years.

Such was Zola's contribution that he won the vote as the player of the year after just six months.