FORMER England skipper David Platt has been forced to dust off his boots in a bid to boost Nottingham Forest's promotion credentials.

The 34-year-old player-boss had announced his playing days were over last season after being red-carded against Sheffield United.

But frustration in the transfer market during the summer has forced the ex-Arsenal midfielder to have a sudden change of heart.

And now he is fit and ready to play a full part in his side's First Division campaign when injuries and suspensions force his hand.

"You can't ignore the fact that I'm 34 years old now and my game was always about dynamism and being able to get from box to box," said Platt, who looks a certain starter against Rovers at Ewood tomorrow.

"I can still finish but you've got to get in the right areas and sometimes I'm going to have to change my game.

"And that can be difficult because old habits die hard.

"But this is a very important season for us and we need to be there or there-abouts.

"So I intend to carry on working hard and get myself even fitter then we'll see what the situation is from there.

"I just hope I won't have to play too much because I'd like to get us into the Premiership without picking up injuries and suspensions.

"I would love to pick the same team week in, week out. "But, being realistic, that's not going to happen." Platt made just three appearances last season, including one start, before deciding to hang up his boots.

However, since his comeback, he has featured in Forest's last two games.

And already he has demonstrated he still retains an eye for goal after getting on the scoresheet during his side's 3-2 victory over Crystal Palace.

Those goalscoring instincts could be worth their weight in gold to a Forest side who struggled to avoid the drop last term.

The men from the City Ground may have made a steady enough start to their First Division campaign after taking seven points out of 12 from their opening four games.

But they limbered up for tomorrow's clash at Ewood with a disastrous midweek home defeat against Third Division Darlington, which cost them their place in the Worthington Cup.

And Platt is calling on his side to be more clinical in front of goal as he faces up to the challenge of meeting a Rovers side brimming with confidence after their 6-1 thrashing of Rochdale.

"Obviously, it's an important game for us but we feel we can go there and get a result," said Platt.

"Now we've had time to reflect on Wednesday night's game, we don't think we played as poorly as we first thought.

"We just need to add more ruthlessness to our game, as well as continuing to make the chances for our strikers.

"So these next three games are important and the players, simply by putting theirs boots back on, will have picked themselves up after Wednesday night's disappointments.

"Blackburn are clearly promotion contenders but then so are we. It's up to us to go there and battle for a result. But, hopefully, we'll have Alan Rogers and Jack Lester fit again.

"So we'll have more players to pick from compared to Wednesday."