MARK Hughes reckons last week's Intertoto Cup sojourn to Lithuanian has whetted his players' appetites for another European adventure.

Rovers flourished on the continent last season, going further in the UEFA Cup than any previous side had done in the club's history.

Stirring performances in Salzburg, Krakow and Rotterdam were instrumental in Rovers reaching the last 32 of the competition, where they were unlucky to bow out to the German Bundesliga side, Bayer Leverkusen, over two legs.

However, the whole journey proved a valuable education for Hughes and his players, and they are now eager to sample it again, particularly after Sunday's mission in Vilnius, where they beat FK Vetra 2-0 in the first leg of their Intertoto third round tie, reminded them what playing in Europe is all about.

"We all enjoy the European trips," said Hughes, speaking ahead of today's second leg with Vetra at Ewood.

"I think it's vital that we have that, not only to continue the development of the team, but obviously to attract players as well.

"We need to be a team that is consistently playing in Europe, and I think that would help our profile in Europe when it comes to attracting players."

Sunday's game in Vilnius was a potential banana skin against opponents who shocked Legia Warsaw by taking a 2-0 lead in the previous round, only for the tie to be abandoned due to crowd trouble.

And although Rovers rarely hit top gear on the day, Hughes later felt it was a job well done, once he had had time to reflect on the performance.

"At the time, immediately after the game, there was maybe a little bit of disappointment at how we performed," said the Rovers boss.

"But after a couple of days, you then look at the result and start to think it was exactly what we needed.

"It was a positive result, there was no goals conceded, it was a 2-0 win away from home, and it sets up the home game very nicely.

"If we can get the job done very early then maybe in the second half I can ring some changes.

"But it's not going to be like a normal pre-season game because I can only make three changes, so we'll try to be very professional; get the job done, and then look ahead to the Premiership."

Only a major shock of seismic proportions will prevent Rovers from cruising through to a place in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Cup, the draw for which takes place on August 3.

However, Hughes will still warn his players to guard against complacency this afternoon, and he wants to see a similar attitude to the one his side showed in Lithuania.

He added: "Shocks can happen. When it's very early in pre-season and you take your opposition too lightly, there can be some banana skins out there.

"But we weren't prepared to allow that to happen to us last week, we did it in the right way and got the job done."