MARTIN Olsson is determined to ensure Blackburn Rovers’ future is in safe hands after becoming the latest Ewood Park young gun to commit his long term future.

The Swedish under 21 international signed a contract extension over the weekend to keep him in East Lancashire until the summer of 2015.

His new deal comes a little more than a month after fellow starlet Phil Jones, 18, was rewarded with a new contract with teenage teammate Junior Hoilett’s future secured a few months previous.

Steven Nzonzi and Nikola Kalinic can also look forward to long Ewood Park futures after signing on lengthy deals last summer and Olsson predicts good times ahead.

He said: “I think there being so many youngsters coming through into the first team together has actually helped us.

“We all get on well and are all inspired by each other.

"None of us want to be left behind and so keep trying to do better and better.

“The club has put their faith in us, we know that, and hopefully we are repaying them. We know we have to keep repaying them though.”

Olsson, 22, arrived at Ewood Park in 2006 from Swedish outfit Hogaborgs BK and was voted the club’s player of the season in 2007/08 after making his debut as a substitute in December.

He appeared intermittently during the 2008/09 campaign but really made his impact during the latter part of last season after being pushed into a more attacking role from his usual left back position.

“Confidence is a big thing,” he said. “I was very low on confidence a couple of seasons ago but the manager and the other players have really helped me.

“I just love playing for Blackburn Rovers at the minute.

"Maybe we don’t have lots of money but that doesn’t matter if you have a lot of young players.

“We have had a lot of young players playing for us and we have to be thankful that the manager has put his faith in us. Some don’t like playing youngsters.

“It also helps we have a lot of experienced players who we learn a lot from. I think the balance is right but we all want to the club’s future.”

Rovers crop of exciting youngsters could prove invaluable to the club over the next few years - especially given their current limited finances.

Boss Sam Allardyce will continue to search for a striker to add to his squad next season will know the new deals for Olsson and Jones were crucial for the club’s future.

Allardyce said: “Martin was outstanding for us last season, a young player who came in and made a magnificent contribution.

“He hs really started to understand the game and now knows how best to use his talents to the team’s advantage.

“I am absolutely delighted that another of our young starlets has pledged his future to the Rovers - that can only be good news, very good news indeed.”