BLACKBURN boss Mark Hughes is convinced he can hang on to Craig Bellamy this summer.

Speculation regarding the future of Hughes' leading scorer has been rife over the last few weeks, with a posse of Premiership clubs including Chelsea and Liverpool reported to be weighing up big money moves for the freescoring Welshman.

However, Hughes today hit back by claiming Bellamy is loving life at Ewood, and he reckons the lure of European football means the 26-year-old does not need to move anywhere else in order to fulfil his ambitions.

"Craig is signed up and we control the situation, in as much as we give him what he needs, and that's very important to Craig," said Hughes.

"He knows on a day-to-day basis that when he comes here, he gets the right quality of work to enable him to become a better football player.

"I know he's happy here, I know he enjoys what's happening here, and we've now got European football as well next season, so the package we have here at the moment is very attractive to Craig Bellamy.

"He's never indicated to me that he's unhappy. He's contracted here and, from my point of view, that's the end of it.

"We are a top six side, we're in Europe, and top six sides in Europe don't sell their best players because it's important to keep on building."

Bellamy said he was fortunate to be at a club like Blackburn' when he picked up his player of the year award at a ceremony earlier this week.

And his performances for Rovers this season - he's scored 17 goals in 32 appearances - would suggest he's enjoying playing under Hughes and his backroom team, who seem to know how to get the best from a man who arrived from Newcastle last summer with a reputation for being difficult to handle.

"The important thing for Craig is he knows he's at a club that's doing everything in its power to be the best it can be, and he knows the people he's got around him will try and make him successful," said Hughes.

"That's the important thing from his point of view.

"He's an ambitious young man and he can realise a lot of his ambitions with Blackburn Rovers."

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