The final weekend of the Premiership season is nearly upon us, and after Rovers excellent win on the road against Newcastle, I think Mark Hughes and his team should emerge with great credit for still being in contention for a European place at such a late stage of the season.

However, once again UEFA seem to be good at making the simple things hard.

Perversely, due to Reading and Portsmouth opting not to take part in next seasons Intertoto Cup, Rovers may actually be in a better position to qualify if they lose to fellow Intertoto applicants Tottenham, as automatic qualification in 7th place for Spurs puts them out of the running for that final place!

I have no doubts that any team managed by a born winner such as Mark Hughes would never take to the field looking for anything other than a victory, but it certainly is a crazy situation.

If there is to be an Intertoto competition at all, (bearing in mind that UEFA is trying to reduce the number of games we play in England!), the highest placed team outside the UEFA placings should be entered automatically.

On the flip side of this you then have managers such of Steve Coppell of Reading quite understandably threatening to field reserve sides in Europe next season, as the fixture pile up can have a negative effect on league performances.

And if Steve Coppell wants to put his money where his mouth is and play a reserve side at Ewood on Sunday I would be delighted!

The issue of whether or not our participation in the UEFA Cup will be of any benefit to the Rovers league performance remains to be seen, but the manager wants in and that is good enough for me.

The European nights are always special and with the influx of cash from next season's TV deal, an improved squad should be large enough to hopefully handle the extra games.

But before all that lies the hurdle of Spurs at White Hart Lane.

We owe them one after giving them one of the games of the season last year at their place, only to lose 3-2, and if we can get any kind of positive result on Thursday I really think that we can follow up with a win against Reading at Ewood in our last match.

Anything less and I think realistically the Euro dream is over.

On a final note I would like to congratulate Manchester United on winning the Premiership this weekend.

Not because I think they were the best team, or that I along with the rest of the planet are becoming just a little tired of Jose Mourinho's delusional ramblings, but because hopefully it means they will be keeping their grubby mitts off Mark Hughes for just that little bit longer at least!