ANURADHA Desai has pledged that she and her family are in it for the long term as owners of Blackburn Rovers.

Speaking exclusively on her first trip to the region, she said: “We are a very traditional family and the reason we bought the club was to be involved in the long term.

"We are very committed to the club, it is very close to my heart now.

“There is no question that we are now here for ever.”

She said she had been overwhelmed with the levels of support she had seen since arriving in Blackburn.

In her first trip to the UK since taking control of Rovers in November she arrived on Monday in London, where she stayed before flying in to Manchester ahead of the Tottenham Hotspur game on Wednesday.

After meetings at her hotel in Manchester she visited the Brockhall training ground on Thursday before flying back to India on Friday.

She said that she was happy with the level of investment in January and said she would be looking to invest more in the summer.

She said: “In three years time we want to be at least between fifth or seventh in the league. And that is the minimum.

“I have not been surprised with the level of spending from teams like Chelsea and Liverpool.

"We have never said we could compete with that. We want to buy good players and will continue to invest in the team.”

She dismissed the idea that Diego Maradona could be on his way to Rovers as a director of football as ‘stupid’.

Her arrival at Ewood for her first game on Wednesday had been ‘overwhelming’ she said.

She added: “I enjoyed the game and the reaction from the fans was wonderful.

“Watching the game up close was great and we probably should have won.

"Samba, Pedersen and Robinson were excellent and really showed their heart and desire.

"They are so committed and showed me again the potential of this team.”

As well as completing the trip with her brothers she also travelled with her husband Jitendra and daughter Uttara.