EVEN though Rovers on a high at the moment, it's still a real shame that it appears Matt Jansen will be on his way out of Ewood Park.

It's been a rough few years for Matt since the terrible accident he suffered in Italy and he hasn't been able to force his way into the first team.

But saying that, he's still a very popular player with the Rovers fans and rightly so.

He helped fire them back into the Premiership and had a tremendous amount of ability and pace and he proved he had what it took at the top level.

He very nearly made the England squad for the last World Cup but since the accident he'e been living a nightmare.

It must have been shattering for him but at least he had the benefit of being paid Premiership wages so financially there's been no problem. For others it could have ripped their lives apart.

It's a real shame but I hope he can stay in the Premiership. I see Everton and Bolton have been mentioned as possible destinations and I hope he chooses Bolton.

Sam Allardyce has a reputation of taking players who are supposedly past their best and turning them around so hopefully he can do it with Matt.

Turning back to Rovers, what a festive period they've had.

They went down to Wigan on New Year's Eve and humbled Wigan 3-0 and it could have been more.

And on Monday night they had to come from behind to beat Portsmouth. And what made the win even better was despite going a goal behind after just three minutes you still felt confident we could at least get a point out of it.

Such is the job Mark Hughes has done. He's built a superb squad and looking at the bench last night filled me with confidence. Having Craig Bellamy, Tugay and Brett Emerton on the bench gave Mark so many options.

This time last year, he had to overcome the shattering blow of losing Barry Ferguson - who was our captain and probably our best player.

But now, we've got a squad of great quality and depth and the likes of Steven Reid and Morten Gamst Pedersen are proving they have true Premiership class.

It's a really great time to be a Rovers fan!