Rumours have been sweeping through the town suggesting Souness was contemplating quitting for health reasons in the summer with Wales boss Mark Hughes lined up as a possible replacement.

But the Ewood chief today revealed he has no intention of walking out on the club with his job half finished.

And the former Liverpool legend insists his time at Ewood has been one of the happiest spells of his career so far.

"I've got a contract for two and a half years and, right now, I'm really enjoying my job," said Souness. "I had a great time at Glasgow Rangers because I was working for really good people.

"And the situation is very similar here because the people who run this club are only interested in football.

"So this is right up there with my first ever experience of management.

"And, though I enjoyed the challenge of managing abroad, I'd have to say I'm as happy here as I have been as a manager. Everything's okay on the health front.

"I'm currently playing well in the five-a-sides, although I've had to change positions these days so I'm now playing more as an outside left.

"But there's no problems in that department.

"I feel fine after my last operation."

Rovers are delighted with the way Souness has transformed the fortunes of the club since he took charge 11 months.

And, though no-one is getting carried away by their current position in the table, chief executive John Williams has paid tribute to the way Souness has turned things around.

"Graeme has done a fantastic job so far. We are very pleased with the way things are going and we hope that will continue for some time to come," said Williams.

'We've always been aware of Graeme's health situation but he's had some preventative surgery and he said he feels better than he has done in a long time.

"He's trying to build a squad here and everything we are doing has got a time span associated to it.

"Our objective is to get back into the top flight as quickly as possible.

"But everytime he looks to try and buy a player we are looking to the future as well as the present."

Meanwhile, defender Craig Short insists Rovers cannot afford to get too carried away by Friday night's 4-1 victory at Bolton.

With fellow promotion chasers West Brom next up at Ewood, Short has stressed the importance of looking forward not back, although he admits the win at the Reebok has given Rovers a massive boost.

"We can't afford to get too carried away because we're still four points behind," said Short.

"I know we've got two games in hand but they're going to be two tough games.

"But to win at Bolton was a real psychological boost for us.

"And I was pleased for Craig Hignett as well because he's had a bit of a stop-start season.

"But we know he's capable of that because he did that against Stockport," he added.