BLACKBURN Rovers midfielder Brett Emerton believes the arrival of Spanish winger Javier De Pedro will give the team a whole new dimension next season.

Emerton got his first real glimpse of the former Real Sociedad star during Friday night's friendly with Bohemians Prague in Ulm.

And the Australian saw enough to think that the 30-year-old could be the man to solve Rovers' left-sided problems after he inspired his new team to a 1-0 victory.

"Something we lacked last season was a natural left-sided player but I think we've got that now in Javier De Pedro and, with Barry Ferguson and David Thompson back as well, it gives us that little bit of extra creativity," said Emerton.

"So hopefully we'll score more goals as a team.

"I'm excited about the new season. We've made some good signings and we've got a few players back from injury who were out for most of last season, so it should be a good season for us and I'm really looking forward to it."

In the absence of a genuine left-sided player for much of last term, a lot of the creative onus fell on Emerton, who was charged with the responsibility of opening up defences from the opposite flank.

He started the season like a whirlwind, destroying Wolves on the opening day with a barnstorming performance in Rovers' 5-1 win.

But as the season went on, he struggled to maintain that kind of scintillating form, to the point where he ended up losing his place in the side in the final weeks of the campaign.

However, after recharging his batteries over the summer, the former Feyenoord star has returned to Rovers refreshed and ready for the season ahead and he's determined to show fans the 'real' Brett Emerton over the coming months.

"I think last season I was a little bit inconsistent," admitted the Aussie.

"I played some good matches and some bad ones so this season my main aim is to be more consistent and contribute more often to the team.

"The fans definitely haven't seen the best of me yet.

"Obviously, the Premiership is a tough league and it takes time to settle in but I've got that first season out of the way and I'm now looking forward to the new one because, hopefully, I'll improve as the weeks go on. "

Emerton also feels the team has something to prove as well after a season in which they failed to live up to expectations.

Some shrewd additions to the squad over the summer, plus the return of key players through injury, has galvanised Graeme Souness's squad and Emerton believes that better times could be just around the corner.

"It's no secret we didn't do as well as we set out to do last season but there was a number of contributing factors to that," added the winger.

"We had several key players missing who are important members of the team.

"Having said that, I don't think we played as badly as our final position in the table suggested.

"We were unlucky in some games so, hopefully, we can put that right this season and fire ourselves up the table."