ANDRE Ooijer will be staying at Blackburn Rovers for at least another 12 months.

The club have contacted the Dutch international to officially inform him that they will be exercising an option in his contract, which allows them to extend it by a further year.

Ooijer's basic deal was due to expire this summer but Rovers shrewdly negotiated the option of a further 12 months when he originally signed from PSV Eindhoven at the beginning of last season.

Now manager Mark Hughes has decided to exercise that option, after Ooijer has turned in a string of impressive performances at the back this season, which dashes the hopes of Feyenoord and Ajax, who were both hoping to lure the 33-year-old back to Holland on a free this summer.

Chairman John Williams said: "We had until March 31 to exercise the option but we have decided to do it now because Andre has been brilliant for us.

"When we negotiated the original deal, we always felt that was something that we'd want to do and who is to say Andre won't be with us for many more years to come?"

Ooijer took time to settle in England initially, following his £2million move from Eindhoven, but, after adjusting to the pace of the Premiership, he has since become an established member of the first team, and he has arguably been Rovers' most consistent defender this term.