30 is the new 40 in modern-day football terms. That dreaded third century has increasingly become a millstone around some player's necks.

Impeccable fitness record? Track record of scoring Championship goals? If you're over 29, that is a red flag in some recruitment teams. Blackburn Rovers could've been accused of that previously but re-addressed the balance last summer.

Andi Weimann will likely not score three better goals in succession when he does hang up his boots. Though that isn't going to be any time soon.

He's now written in Blackburn folklore for his Burnley wonder-strike. The two tap-ins at Cardiff City perhaps owed more to his team-mates ingenuity but it's his name on the scoreboard.

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At 33, Weimann was a smart bit of business for Rovers, who desperately needed some pedigree and experience. The Austrian has notched more second-tier goals than the rest of Rovers' forward combined.

It was a low-cost, low-risk move that is paying off. He is not the man for every occasion but you'd be hard-pressed to find a Rovers fan who thinks he's been a bad signing. 

"I always believed in myself. This is my 10th season in the Championship and I feel good. I enjoy working with the manager and I'm enjoying my football," Wiemann said.

"I feel good but everyone else tells me that I'm getting old. I love the environment and I'm enjoying it. I feel at the moment that I'm good, I don't miss training sessions so I don't see why I'd not carry on for longer.

"I've been involved in every game. I've been away with Austria. I still have a lot to give and I still love it, that is the most important thing. I love coming in every day and I love the games. 

"The happier you are, the better you play. As I said when I signed, this summer felt strange. I seemed to get written off when you reach a certain age even if you don't feel like that yourself. 

"I feel really good and I've been fit. You only get one-year deals now at my age, I see that now. But I think I've shown that I can still do it, come in and enjoy it. 

"I have a few friends who were in the same boat and haven't contracts still at my age so I'm trying to make the most of every minute."

Weimann has played most of his football off the flanks for Rovers but it's when he's central to goal that he's most dangerous. In Blackburn's current system, he is given license to peel off the right flank and find space as a right-sided number 10, with Callum Brittian holding width.

Having come through as a striker in the Aston Villa Academy that instinct to attack space in the box is god-given. You either have it, or you don't. Weimann does.

"When I signed, I said I can play anywhere but the more central I am, the more often I get into those positions to score goals," Weimann admitted.

"That's where I'm at my best. The two goals against Cardiff, they were easy finishes but you need to know where to be. Over my career, I've had that and the instinct to get into the box. When you're properly wide, it's hard to do that.

"The last few games, I have played narrow off the right and that has helped me. You do a lot of work with the coaches on that and you're shown how certain movements can affect a team more because they might have different set-ups. 

"There are ideas but I believe as a forward, you have to know where the ball will drop. You have to have that instinct where you know where to be. Sometimes, when it's not going for you, it doesn't quite land.

"But you either have that or you don't. It's about timing your runs too and attacking that space at the right moments."

The one thing missing from Weimann's Championship CV is a promotion. Whilst that was never the aim in August for Blackburn Rovers, those play-off places are firmly up for grabs.

"It does seem very open and tight," the Austrian attacker pondered.

"Before we played Cardiff, we were eighth and three points off the play-offs, four ahead of the relegation zone. That shows you how tight it is.

"You can have runs or two or three wins and defeats and you'll shoot up or down but it does feel tight. Maybe that changes over the next few months over Christmas with so many games.

"Nobody is running away with it. That has been the case in the last few years. There's been one or two you know will make the top two. But the top-six, anyone could make that at the moment.

"We want to be in that and get promoted. But if you want to have a chance, you just need to stay consistent. 

"We've been looking at Portsmouth and they're clearly a very honest and hard-working team. They're a big club that hasn't been in the Championship for a while so that always takes some adaptation. 

"We've played well at home, even though we've lost the last couple, and we want to get back to winning ways at Ewood at the weekend."