ROVERS midfielder David Dunn is hoping the club's disappointment at being knocked out of the UEFA Cup will prove to be a blessing in disguise.

Mark Hughes' men were beaten 3-2 on aggregate by Greek side Larissa last week, despite winning the second leg 2-1 at Ewood Park.

Last season, Rovers had Thursday night games in Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Holland and Germany to contend with as well as their domestic programme.

It put a strain on the Rovers squad, but it's one that Dunn and his team-mates won't have to contend with this season.

And the 28-year-old star is hoping the reduced workload will be worth its weight in trophies.

He said: "It was disappointing to be knocked out of the competition. I think we gave ourselves too much to do from the first leg. That's unfortunate but there's still three big competitions to play for and we're looking forward to the challenge.

"We would still like to be in the competition, that goes without saying, but less games hopefully will mean we're fresher going into the league games and the other cup games."

Rovers lie sixth in the table and their next big cup game comes on October 31 when they travel to Portsmouth in the fourth round of the League Cup.

Dunn was a member of the victorious Worthington Cup side of 2001/2002 that beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 at the Millennium Stadium and is hoping to play at the new Wembley in the final again in its latest guise - the Carling Cup.

He added: "We've got a big game against Portsmouth in the League Cup. The League Cup is one we won not too long ago and it would be nice to get to another final.

"The manager, staff and all the players - every game we play we want to win. I'm sure every team does. We've got enough ability in the squad to beat anyone.

"That's the mentality and the attitude we've all got now."

Several Rovers players are still away on international duty and return for the weekend's visit of Reading.

And Dunn is hoping he and his team-mates can make it five wins on the bounce with victory over the Royals.

He said: "It's been a really good start. Coming into this international break, if someone had said we'd be sixth at this point in the season then we'd have snapped their hand off.

"We're hoping to get something from every game we have. Reading have done really well since they've been promoted and it's not going to be an easy game. But if we do things right and we play like we know we can then we'll be fine."