Duff to sign

After months of speculation, the 23-year-old winger has finally admitted in an exclusive interview with the Evening Telegraph that he is ready to put his signature to one of the richest contracts in Rovers' history.

And he plans to make everything official later this week when he returns from international duty with the Republic of Ireland.

That news will come as a massive boost to Rovers boss Graeme Souness who has spent the vast majority of the summer trying to persuade his star winger to agree new terms.

Both Liverpool and Manchester United have made enquiries about the Dublin-born schemer after he set the World Cup alight with some scintillating performances in the Far East.

But Duff has decided that it is in his best interests to stay at Ewood where he can continue to hone his talents under Souness.

And now he's just waiting for the contract to be drawn up officially by Rovers' legal team before he formally puts pen to paper.

"If it was there to sign on Friday I would have signed it," revealed Duff.

"But at the moment it's just not quite ready so, hopefully, by the time I come back from international duty later this week everything will be sorted out.

"I'm very happy here, I think my game has improved no end in the past year working with the lads and the staff, so I'm definitely going to stay on and try and improve my game even further.

"I haven't prolonged it or anything, it's just that talks went on for that long and it didn't have that much to do with me.

"So when it's ready to sign, I'll sign it."

Duff admits it will come as a relief to finally sort out his future after months of speculation in the national Press.

For a man who prefers to stay out of the media spotlight, the incessant stories linking him with moves to Anfield and Old Trafford have weighed heavily on his shoulders and he began to feel it was affecting his game.

"I'm still a young lad and all the speculation hasn't really been fair on me," said Duff.

"It's definitely affected me but all you can do is get your head down and work hard, which is what I've tried to do throughout it all."

Rovers' recent friendly win over Lazio at Ewood highlighted the pressure Duff has been under after he marched off the pitch dejectedly at the final whistle.

However, he has moved to allay fans' fears by insisting his reaction was not due to the fact he was unhappy at the club.

"I felt tired last week against Lazio and I thought that showed in my performance so I wasn't too happy at all," added the Irishman.

"I think some of the fans thought I was in a mood or whatever and not happy at the club but it wasn't that at all, I just wasn't happy with my performance because I felt so jaded.

"However, I felt a lot better against Sunderland on Saturday so hopefully I can now carry that on for the rest of the season."

Rovers have yet to reveal details of the contract offer but as I understand it it may contain a clause which would allow Duff the option to speak to other clubs if they were to lodge bids above a set figure.