BACK in Europe, a top six place guaranteed, and £7.5 million in place money already safely in the bank, Blackburn Rovers could be forgiven for thinking this was time to party at Fortress Ewood.

But, such is the winning mentality that Mark Hughes has managed to instil in his players, this Rovers team gives nothing less than its all, even when there's nothing left to play for other than personal and professional pride.

A remarkable season came to a fitting conclusion here, Rovers securing the victory they needed to confirm this as their most successful Premiership campaign since they lifted the title itself eleven years ago.

From relegation candidates to European qualifiers, Rovers have undergone a startling metamorphosis that some would have barely deemed possible 12 months ago.

This win, Rovers' 13th at home in the Premiership this season, typified the character and indomitable spirit that courses through this side.

Facing a Manchester City team who were desperate to end an alarming sequence of results, Hughes' players could have allowed their minds to wander, safe in the knowledge their mission had already been accomplished.

But instead, they served up one last performance for their ecstatic supporters, overcoming the loss of Aaron Mokoena through injury, and Tugay to a harshly awarded red-carded, to send City spinning to a ninth defeat in 10 games.

What a way to bow out!

"It didn't really resemble an end of season game," admitted Hughes afterwards.

"Manchester City are on a poor run of late and they were desperate to finish the season on a high, so they weren't going to pull out.

"But we weren't to be denied either. We wanted to finish the season off in style."

And they did.

Rovers have not accumulated this amount of points in the Premier League since the halcyon days of 'King' Kenny, Alan Shearer and the late Jack Walker; a statistic that perhaps best underlines the remarkable strides being made by Hughes and his coaching staff on limited resources.

Even without their two leading scorers, Craig Bellamy and Morten Gamst Pedersen, Rovers had too much quality for a City side that looks in serious need of a makeover during the close season.

Hughes now faces two main challenges over the summer as he looks to build on the phenomenal achievements of the last nine months.

The first is to recruit the players needed to enable Rovers to compete both at home and abroad next term, because the extra demands that come with a European campaign will test both the strength and depth of this squad.

Top of the priority list must be a proven strike-partner for Bellamy, particularly if, as expected, Paul Dickov seeks pastures new.

Secondly, it's absolutely imperative Hughes keeps the core of this side together.

Bellamy and Pedersen, to name just two, have already been linked with big money moves elsewhere on the back of successful seasons and to lose either would be a devastating blow, regardless of the level of compensation.

Hughes and the club must therefore repel any attempts to lure them away in the strongest possible terms as both players' goals would be almost impossible to replace.

But this wasn't a time to worry about the future; it was a day to celebrate the here and now and the Blackburn public turned out in force to salute their heroes after a glorious nine month journey.

From Portsmouth to Newcastle, Old Trafford to White Hart Lane, Rovers have played some magnificent football this season and fully deserve their place in Europe.

There have been some breathtaking goals, and some outstanding individual displays, but ultimately it's been a team effort, with every player in blue and white playing their part to achieve a common goal, a point Hughes acknowledged by giving some of his fringe players a run-out here.

Considering there was nothing at stake other than pride for either side, there was an unusually competitive edge to this end of season encounter, but then rival managers Hughes and Stuart Pearce never gave anything less than a hundred per cent as players, and their teams have inherited that same characteristic.

There was a real purpose to Rovers' play in the opening skirmishes as they zipped the ball about with real conviction on a lively playing surface, but then an injury to Aaron Mokoena took the edge off the carnival atmosphere.

The South African international threw himself into a full-blooded challenge with Joey Barton on the edge of the penalty area and after lengthy treatment, he disappeared on a stretcher.

Not surprisingly, Rovers lost some momentum after that and City might have taken advantage had their Greek striker Georgios Samaras done better with a couple of headers.

The sight of a streaker sidestepping stewards in front of the CIS Stand like Bellamy normally evades defenders did much to lift the mood and soon after, Rovers were in front.

Sergio Peter whipped over a corner from the right which should have been meat and drink for David James, but as the England keeper came out to collect, the ball squirmed out of his hands like a bar of soap straight to Zurab Khizanishvili, who hooked it back into the vacant net from eight yards out.

James was red-faced, and rightly so. England fans can only hope Paul Robinson stays injury free between now and the World Cup!

As if to heighten James' embarrassment, his opposite number, Brad Friedel, then pulled off a remarkable save moments later to thwart Kiki Musampa when the City midfielder looked odds-on to score.

Any thoughts of a City comeback were effectively extinguished seven minutes after the break when Rovers grabbed their second.

David Bentley fed Brett Emerton on the right, and the Aussie's cross to the near post was gleefully flicked home by Shefki Kuqi, who became Rovers' third leading scorer for the season in the process.

By now, Ewood was in full carnival mood and not even the harsh dismissal of Tugay - sent off for a late challenge on David Sommeil, who nearly rolled out of the ground in a blatant attempt to con referee Howard Webb - could spoil the party mood.

Europe here they come!

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