FORMER Blackburn favourite Jason McAteer last night insisted he had no option but to call time on his Rovers career in a bid to keep his World Cup dreams alive.

McAteer made a triumphant return to Ewood yesterday as his new club Sunderland secured a priceless 3-0 win.

And the 30-year-old midfielder then spoke about the reasons behind his move to the North East where he is currently enjoying something of a renaissance.

"I don't think it was a football thing, I think there was more to it," said McAteer.

"But things developed where I couldn't stay. I needed to play for my international career, especially with us being on the brink of a World Cup, and that's a big thing because I'm 30-years-old now and I've not got much time left.

"I just want to enjoy my football and playing week in, week out is something I love doing.

"That's when I'm at my happiest and that's when I'm at my best.

"And I wasn't getting that here, for one reason or another, so it was just time to move on and we parted."

During his time with Rovers, McAteer became something of a crowd favourite with certain sections of the Ewood faithful.

And he hopes that relationship will continue in the future, despite claims from some supporters that he made some inciting gestures yesterday.

"I always had a great rapport with the fans here and, hopefully, I still have," said McAteer.

"I've got tremendous respect for them because they're a great crowd.

"At the end of the day, it wasn't my decision to leave. I would have liked to have stayed but things didn't develop the way I wanted so I had to move on, now I'm playing for Sunderland, and there was a little bit of banter towards the end.

"But that's all it was. Hopefully, we can forget about it and just get on with it."