PETER Whittingham admits he is enjoying his football as much as ever after marking a 500th career league appearance in Tuesday’s win at Blackpool.

The Rovers midfielder reached the milestone in midweek, 14-and-a-half years on from his debut for Aston Villa in their draw with Newcastle in April 2003.

Whittingham has started 11 of Rovers’ opening 19 league games since a summer move from Cardiff City. Promotion back to the Championship is the aim for the 33-year-old this term and he was delighted that his milestone appearance was celebrated by a fourth Rovers win in a row.

“It’s an amazing achievement and to be picked that many times you must be doing some all right,” he said.

“I was really happy to cap it with a win, I thought we took our chances and it was a big win for us and moves us up the table to where we want to be.

“It was a great result for us, as you can see by the table where it put us in the league.

“I love playing football, getting out there, it’s a record that I’m really proud of and my family is as well.

“You don’t get to 500 league appearances and not enjoy playing football.

“I’m really happy to be playing and winning games.”

Tuesday’s win at Bloomfield Road was the culmination of an excellent four games in 10 days for Rovers in which they collected a maximum 12 points and scored 13 goals in the process.

They take a break from league action in tomorrow’s FA Cup second round tie with Crewe, with Whittingham believing the squad can continue their fine recent form when they return to league action with clashes against promotion rivals Peterborough and Charlton Athletic on the horizon.

Whittingham added: “If you have that many wins on the bounce, and the way we’re playing and the amount of goals we’re scoring, it’s all coming together.

“We have some very hard games coming up but with the run we’re on we’re relishing it.

“We’re not relying on anyone and to get four goals away at Blackpool is very good.

“We’re starting to play better and take our chances when they come.

“I think at the start of the season if a couple of chances didn’t go in it kind of knocked us a little bit but we’re taking our chances and if you look at the squad it’s a brilliant squad and at the minute and we are where we deserve with this many games gone.

“We will now look to kick on now.”