NEW Rover Elrio van Heerden is relishing the prospect of linking up with his fellow countryman Benni McCarthy at Ewood Park.

The South African is full of praise for his country’s all-time leading scorer – and has backed the hitman to regain his place in Joel Santana’s squad before next year’s World Cup.

The 25-year-old said: “I’m looking forward to meeting up with him again as I haven’t seen him in a while.

“It will be good to be in contact with him. I am looking forward to that.”

The new boy is also relishing his Rovers career and added: “I am looking forward to working with Sam Allardyce.

“My aim is to hold down a first team place, I just have to work hard and go there and see what happens.

“It’s a big difference because the league in England is much stronger, it's more popular than in Belgium.”