BLACKBURN Rovers have one of the richest histories in professional football.

Founder members of the Football League, six-times FA Cup winners, and the only team other than Manchester United and Arsenal to have won the Premier League - all outstanding achievements to be immensely proud of.

But if there's one statistic that Rovers fans find hard to stomach, then it is the club's recent record in European competition.

Whether its the Champions League or the UEFA Cup, the famous Ewood club have been England's poor relations in regard to success on the continent over the last decade or so.

So that's why fans were so eager to see their team put the record straight when the draw was made this time out - and so disappointed when they then saw the starting line-up for the first leg against CSKA Sofia a fortnight ago.

In Graeme Souness's defence, injuries forced his hand on the night and many of those changes were enforced.

But with Andy Cole, Damien Duff and David Thompson all now back to somewhere near approaching full fitness, we can only hope that the manager goes with his strongest possible line-up in Bulgaria tomorrow as Rovers seek to extend their European adventure beyond the first week in October.

There is no doubting the Premiership has to be the club's number one priority and that means Souness has a responsibility to ensure that the icing doesn't become more important than the cake itself.

But I am sure if you were to conduct a poll among the fans themselves, they would put the UEFA Cup above both the Worthington and FA Cups as their main concern after the league, if only to bury the stigma of Trelleborg once and for all.

From what we saw of CSKA in the first leg, Rovers should travel to the Bulgarian capital with nothing to fear against a side which would struggle in our Premiership.

If Rovers can win tomorrow, then they will make history by reaching the second round for the first time ever.

What greater incentive could they need?