BLACKBURN new-boy Ciccio Grabbi today expressed his delight at opening his Ewood goal-account in Saturday's impressive victory over Bradford at Valley Parade.

Graeme Souness's new £6.75 million signing from Serie B side Ternana laid the foundations for an impressive 2-0 win by opening the scoring after just 13 minutes.

And the 26-year-old then later admitted it came as a welcome relief to finally get off the mark following a hectic start to his Rovers career.

"I'm very happy to have scored my first goal but, for me, the most important thing is to play for the team," said Grabbi.

"As long as the team win, that's the important thing. Anything else is just a bonus.

"I felt very tired afterwards because that was my first 90 minutes in three months.

"I've had a few problems with a foot injury but now that seems to be clearing up and, when my body feels okay, then my mind is focused, too."

Souness was particularly delighted with the way his Italian import linked up with strike-partner Matt Jansen.

And Grabbi admits he is relishing the prospect of teaming up with the former England Under 21 international when the serious stuff starts in two weeks time.

"Matt Jansen is a very talented player and I'm looking forward to playing alongside him," said Grabbi.

"I don't think we'll have any problems playing together."

Meanwhile, Souness hailed Saturday's work-out as another useful excerise as Rovers look to put the finishing touches to their pre-season preparations.

"It was another good work-out for us," said Souness.

"It was a quicker game than we've had previously which was just what we wanted at this stage in the summer.

"We're still lacking in certain areas but then every manager would say that about his team at this stage.

"Aside from the fitness aspect, though, I thought there was some good passing movements.

"And we played the game with two young centre backs, which is a vital part of your team, but at no time did we look like we might concede.

"If you're playing away from home you've got to expect the other side to create some chances but I can't really think of any clear-cut, golden chances that Bradford made.

"So Tiny and Gordon Greer both deserve credit."

Souness is still on the look-out for extra defensive cover before the season starts in a fortnight's time.

But the performance of Greer in particular gave the manager plenty of food for thought ahead of the big kick-off.

"The game's not going to be about 11 players between now and next May. No manager can think like that these days," said Souness.

"What we've got now is more competition for places and that can only be a healthy thing.

"But I still think we need to strengthen a few areas yet.

"We're still quite thin in certain areas. It's no secret I'd like to get in a left-sided defender who can operate at both full-back and centre back because we are thin down there.

"But young Gordon Greer gave us food for thought.

"He's not ready yet but I thought he had an excellent debut and hardly put a foot wrong.

"He maybe got sucked in a few times in the first half but you can see he's a football player and you can see he's not been a professional for very long.

"So joining us will be a real shock to him but he handled it on Saturday."