KEVIN Gallacher committed himself to Blackburn Rovers until the year 2000 and declared: "This club is going places and I would like to be part of it."

The Ewood and Scotland striker has signed a 12-month extension to the new contract he negotiated only last year, which is another positive sign of the way things have been transformed since Roy Hodgson's arrival in summer.

Rovers' chief executive John Williams has been working closely with Hodgson behind the scenes to try to ensure no major contract problems arise at the club.

And Gallacher was delighted to be approached about renegotiating his deal, especially with the World Cup finals scheduled for next summer.

Gallacher played a major part in helping Scotland to reach France and is expected to have a key role to play in the finals.

"It's good to get it settled, especially with the World Cup coming up as well," he said.

"I know now that I am secure at the club for the foreseeable future. "That keeps me happy and my family happy.

"I have the feeling that the club is going places and I would like to be part of it.

"The club have also shown that they want a lot of the players to be part of the future plans and I am very pleased."

Gallacher, who usually plays well at Old Trafford, can now look to make it a double celebration against Manchester United on Sunday when the Premiership's top two clash.

For his next League game will be his 100th for Rovers and that's an excellent achievement by a player who has had so much bad luck with injuries.

After joining Rovers from Coventry in March, 1993, in a part-exchange deal valued at £1.5 million, the striker suffered a broken leg just under 12 months later.

He made a spirited comeback only to suffer another fracture but Gallacher has shown a lot of courage to go with his other qualities.

From his 99 full Premiership appearances, plus five more as a substitute, the Scot has scored 32 goals.

But many of those games have seen him play wide on the right or left, rather than as an out-and-out striker as he has done this season.

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