JASON Roberts insists Blackburn Rovers ‘can do better’ this season after claiming a top 10 finish should not be the limit of their ambitions.

The powerful striker was a member of the Rovers squad which exceeded all expectations last campaign by breaking into the Premier League top 10 but he believes there is still room for improvement.

Sam Allardyce’s squad are now in Austria for an altitude training camp with the big kick off just six weeks away and, with the same personnel to call on, Roberts insists no one will be satisfied with merely a repeat of last time round.

Roberts said: “It was a very good season at home but that has of course been tempered by the fact we have been terrible away from home.

"Things could have been so much different.

“It is an improvement on the season before but, to be honest, it is nothing less than we have expected.

"We wanted to be in the top 10 and want to be challenging for the Europa League and the top eight.

“We won’t be doing cartwheels, we know we should be doing better.

"We know we could have done better and that is the way you need to think about things going into next season.

"We want to always do better.

“The whole time I have been here we have been looking to improve and, yes, we have improved on last season.

"But we know if we had got better results away from home things could have been better.”

It was only a little more than a year ago that Rovers were involved in a desperate fight against relegation after Paul Ince’s short regime left successor Sam Allardyce needing to pull off a great escape.

Allardyce’s squad of a mixture of youth and experience then took them to 10th last season, despite some early struggles, but Roberts is now looking to improve their away woes that saw them win just three games on their travels all campaign.

Roberts said: “We played well at home during the majority of last season and got what we deserved with a win against one of the big four.

"The million dollar question is our away form though.

"I wish I could tell you why we have struggled.

“But if we put in the effort and the organisation and that much belief then I think it would be hard to beat us anywhere.

“We have players here who want to work for each other, want to work for the team and who sacrifice themselves for the team.

I am very proud to be part of this.

“I think the home record does give us tremendous confidence ahead of next season.

"You know it is there, it is about getting it out in different situations.”