BLACKBURN ROVERS midfielder Steven Reid believes he has a huge fight on his hands if he is to re-claim his first team jersey.

The Republic of Ireland international is on the brink of his first start in over 15 months after a series of injuries, the worst being an anterior cruciate knee ligament injury picked up almost a year ago.

But the 26-year-old has worked hard to get himself back into the first team frame and has made appearances from the bench against Fulham, Aston Villa, Newcastle and West Ham so far this season.

And with the busy Christmas period fast approaching, Reid is hopeful of getting a full 90 minutes under his belt soon.

But with Tugay, David Dunn, David Bentley, Robbie Savage, Aaron Mokoena, Morten Gamst Pedersen and Reid himself aiming to fill four slots in the middle of the park, the returning midfielder knows he has his work cut out.

He said: "Competition for places throughout the team is fierce but we need that.

"Tugay's been playing really well, Aaron's (Mokoena) been doing well, so has Sav and Dunny, but we need that if we're going to be a top six team. We need a good squad and cover in every position. It's just whoever the manager goes with on the day.

"I prefer to play in the centre of midfield, that's where I've shown my best form, and I feel that's my best position but, as I've done before, I'll be happy to fill in anywhere.

"I'm so excited and buzzing to be back playing and hopefully I can get back to my best soon and hit the ground running. I've been pretty pleased with the bits I've been involved in so far but I'm hoping to get back to starting games and maybe putting together a run of 10 to 20 games."

Christmas has been a busy, but profitable time for Rovers in recent seasons, but with seven games in 21 days over the hectic festive season, manager Mark Hughes will need all the bodies he can get at his disposal.

"This is a time of the year where we usually do well," he said. "Hopefully we can keep our form going into this Christmas period."