JACK Walker today made a remarkable gesture of faith in Brian Kidd and his future with Blackburn Rovers - he offered to extend his contract as manager!

Irritated by speculation about what might happen if Rovers were to be relegated from the Premiership, Mr Walker came out with all guns blazing in defence of the man he appointed in December.

And, far from handing out a mere vote of confidence, the Ewood owner re-affirmed his belief that Kidd is the man for Rovers in the strongest possible terms.

"Let me make something very clear," said Mr Walker.

"Brian Kidd was my choice as manager and he was also appointed unanimously by the rest of the board.

"We have a three-year contract with him and if he wants to extend that contract, he can do that as well.

"When he started the job we only had nine points from 15 games and it was no easy task.

"Everybody knows how we have been affected by injuries. We are having a rough time but we are all doing everything we can.

"Unfortunately we cannot do anything about the breaks or bad luck. When that sort of luck is going against you it's very difficult but we are still in there fighting with a chance."

It has been a traumatic Ewood season with a dramatic finale in sight.

But Mr Walker and the board are anxious to bring some stability back to the club, believing that is the correct way forward.

They also clearly feel that Kidd is the right choice to lead them into next season, whether it is still as a Premiership club, or, the dreaded scenario, starting again from scratch in the Nationwide League First Division.

The first team is obviously the most important thing but they are also conscious of the importance of the all round development of the club.

That is something close to the manager's heart too, as he has often spoken about his desire to build something worthwhile.

"Our plans are laid out well ahead of us, not least with the Academy," added Mr Walker.

"And we need stability and some continuity."

That is one thing the club have not had out on the field, because of their massive injury problems.

Yet, compared to their record from the start of the season to his appointment at the beginning of December, Kidd has managed to take 24 points from 20 matches. It's not record-breaking stuff but, considering their rock-bottom position when he took over, it's a vast improvement.

And that kind of points ratio applied over a season would have been enough to keep them away from any threat of relegation.

Meanwhile, long-term absentee Chris Sutton is benefiting from a second week's intensive remedial work at Lilleshall as he concentrates on making a full recovery from a troublesome groin injury, hopefully without need of surgery.

He is the only player with any first-team experience in the reserve squad as the club save all their resources for the final three Premiership games of the season.f=helveticaf+bf-bo

Roy Hodgson's first game back as caretaker-boss of Inter Milan produced an amazing 5-4 win away to Roma. Ronaldo (2) and Ivan Zamorano (2) saw Inter lead 3-1 then 4-3 but it took an 87th-minute winner from Diego Simeone to clinch the points.

The Ewood ticket office re-opened today, with seats still available for Saturday's crucial game at home to Nottingham Forest. Prices are £18-25 adults, £10 concessions where applicable.

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