SAM Allardyce insists sacrificing cash for support has paid off handsomely this season as he looks for ‘Fortress Ewood’ to give one last effort this evening.

Blackburn Rovers entertain Arsenal tonight in Ewood’s last Premier League game of the campaign, boasting the best home record out of any of the bottom 10 clubs, and Allardyce insists it is all down to the club’s bold summer move.

In a move that stunned the footballing world, Rovers made season tickets available for as little as £10 per game this season and opened up the traditional away Darwen End for home fans.

The ticketing structure could have cost the club financially this campaign in terms of revenue but, with the average attendance significantly improved, Allardyce insists the gamble was well worth it.

Rovers’ formidable home record has already seen them go undefeated against the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool this season – and Allardyce insists they aren’t finished yet.

He said: “We’ve got belief, organisation, desire and we’ve got the backing of the fans, which makes an atmosphere that creates a cauldron for us to play our best in and for the opposition to find it difficult.

“We’ve repaid the fans with their extra support and one of the best things that’s happened has been putting the home fans in the Darwen End.

“All of the players mention it and rather than let he money factor rule our decision, we’ve let the support factor rule the decision for a change which is unusual in the Premier League.

“We’ve sacrificed some of the revenue we could gain and given it to home fans who pay a lot less and the benefit of that is more fans, more Blackburn fans and more atmosphere and we’ve had better results throughout the season.”

Allardyce knows a win against Arsene Wenger’s Gunners would boost their own top 10 hopes and is determined to sign off from a memorable Ewood campaign in style.

Rovers have just lost four games in his entire 18 months at the club and Allardyce is determined to banish the memories of their recent home loss against Everton.

He said: “It would be very nice for us to continue our home record and when we lost in the last minute to Everton I was bitterly disappointed that we let that go from two defeats to three when we’d scored two of the best goals this season at home.

“It’s a great shame to waste those two goals and not get any points.

"If we got another draw against Everton it was another point on the board and it was another result at Ewood Park where the in-form team in the Premier League came to us and still couldn’t beat us.

“That draw was very important for me and unfortunately we slipped up in the last minute and didn’t get it.”

Allardyce believes his squad has come a long way this season -pointing to the transformation between the side that started the first game against Manchester City and the players who will run out this evening.

The likes of Martin Olsson, Nikola Kalinic, Steven Nzonzi, Phil Jones and Michel Salgado have all emerged as key players this season, with Allardyce admitting time has done them all good.

“People have to adjust the way we play,” he said. “Adjusting to how hard the Premier League is and finally they have all come to terms with it and been absolutely outstanding at the back end of the season.

“If you look at the side that played regularly at the start of the season to the side now, there’s been quite a transformation there in just one season.

“We’ve seen the emergence of young players like Martin Olsson, Nzonzi, Niko Kalinic, Phil Jones, Junior Hoilett, which has put a huge amount of pressure on the players who have been regulars for quite a time.

"Apart from not scoring enough goals it’s been quite a satisfying season for us.”