IT might be eight years since it happened but even now the mere mention of the word 'Trelleborg' sends a shiver down my spine.

Although I wasn't a member of the first team squad on that dreaded night in 1994, I still shared in the pain and embarrassment felt by everyone of a Blackburn persuasion in the wake of such a shock result.

Even now, some of our fiercest critics refer back to that fateful tie whenever they feel like having a pop at the club.

So that's why I'm Hell bent on making sure we get a result in Bulgaria tonight to make sure the knockers don't have any more 'ammo' to fire at us.

For a lot of the lads in the squad, the name 'Trelleborg' means absolutely nothing to them because they weren't around at the time but you can rest assured that I've filled them in as to all the gorey details just so they know exactly what the price of failure is in the Bulgarsa Armia.

Whatever your thoughts are on the UEFA Cup, it's still a chance for the lads to play in Europe.

And if you have ambition about you then you want to broaden your experiences by playing against as many different types of players and oppositions as you possibly can.

I know that's certainly the way I feel about it and I'm sure I can vouch for the rest of the lads by saying that's exactly how they look on it, too.

Some players never get the chance to play in Europe at all so when the opportunity comes along you've got to seize it with both hands which is why we are treating tonight's game so seriously.

No-one likes to get beat so you want to win every game you play in -- and this is no different.

The way I see it, it would be a crying shame if all the hard work we put into winning the Worthington Cup last season ended up amounting to nothing.

Obviously, the Premier League is our number one priority, as the manager keeps pointing out, but that doesn't mean we've come here just to roll over and accept defeat.

I know from talking to the rest of the players that everyone is desperate to do as well as they possibly can.

They've got to be slight favourites after scoring an away goal at Ewood but we know what we've got to do so, hopefully, we can do ourselves justice.

CSKA -- with all due respect -- didn't look anything particularly special in the first leg at Ewood but they are still a dangerous side, particularly when they look to break on the counter-attack.

So we'll have to be aware of that, especially as they'll be at home and they'll have their own fans behind them.

European football is very much a journey into the unknown because a lot of the time you don't know much about the teams or players you are facing.

But that's what makes it exciting, too. So let's hope we can give the fans a European result to remember for all the right reasons!

Sofia? The room's nice

PLAYING in Europe is always an experience -- if only because you get to see so many new places.

But it's not quite the jet-set life-style some people would have you believe. I'm lucky in that I'm quite experienced when it comes to playing abroad because I've been all over Europe with the England Under 21s.

But even though I've been to some of the best and worst cities on the continent, I couldn't tell you too much about them because you never get the chance to actually see them properly.

Most of my memories consist of hotel bedrooms or training ground dressing rooms because apart from eating, sleeping, training and playing, you very rarely get the chance to see anythying else.

So playing in Sofia won't worry me or any of the other players. It doesn't matter to us what the city is like or the stadium, quite frankly, just as long as the pitch is okay and the food is edible!

The game kicks off at 5.30pm UK time.