BLACKBURN Rovers midfielder Morten Gamst Pedersen has hit back at claims that he's allowed his fame to go to his head.

Rosenborg coach Nils Arne Eggen launched a scathing attack on Pedersen and his international team-mate John Arne Riise in the wake of Norway's failure to qualify automatically for next summer's World Cup finals in Germany.

Eggen reckons the Norwegian duo are more concerned with promoting their image off the pitch than trying to inspire their team-mates to glory on it.

And he even compared the Premiership pair to England captain David Beckham, who has been accused of allowing commercial activities to come in the way of his football career in the past.

However, Pedersen has dismissed those accusations and he insists he won't allow Eggen's comments to affect his form for club and country. .

Taking a sly swipe at Eggen, who lists potato farming amongst his interests, the 24-year-old said: "All people cannot like the same things.

"Some people like playing golf, others like sleeping, some like clothes, while others again like growing potatoes and picking them up from the ground.

"We are not the same.

"Eggen is a good coach and I think he is entitled to mean whatever he wants.

"Eggen has had a lot of meanings in his life and he should continue saying what he feels.

"I cannot concentrate too much on what people say in the newspapers, but Eggen is a good coach and he can just keep on making statements."

Eggen openly criticised Pedersen and Riise after Norway's game with Moldova at the weekend.

Although the Norwegians won that contest 1-0, the result was not enough to guarantee them a place at the World Cup next summer and they now face the lottery of a play-off early next month.

That's a worrying scenario for a nation that boasts a proud record in the competition and Eggen blames his country's struggles on the lacklustre form of the squad's two most high-profile players.

The Rosenborg coach told Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet: "It's a little like David Beckham, who is more of a star in the fashion magazines.

"He (Pedersen) needs to expose himself more on the arena where he is supposed to do well - on the football pitch.

"They (Gamst Pedersen and Riise) need to keep both feet down on the football pitch."

Eggen's comments hardly seem to tally with the views of Rovers boss Mark Hughes, who frequently describes Pedersen as the 'model professional'.

After a sticky start to his career in England, Pedersen has since knuckled down and established himself as one of the best goalscoring midfielders in the Premiership.

While the former Tromso star may have been criticised in some quarters for his performance against Moldova, he still supplied the cross that led to Norway's winning goal.

And in a total of 16 games for his country, he has scored four goals - hardly a poor return for a wide midfield player.

Referring to his performance last weekend, Pedersen added: "I feel that I am always involved in goal attempts. That has always been a strength for me as a player.

"It was like that at Tromso, and it is like that at Blackburn now.

"But when you try to do things on the pitch, and you sometimes don't succeed, people are always quick to notice that."