Chairman John Williams and manager Sam Allardyce have both expressed their delight in the securing of Junior Hoilett until the summer of 2012.

Mr Williams said: "It is a very important deal for the club and all parties are very pleased. Junior is a very promising player and a young man who has been with us for many years, part of our family here at Blackburn Rovers. This is the next stage in his career and a great opportunity for him, while it also means we have a very exciting crop of youngsters in our senior squad which clearly represents good news for our future."

The manager added: "Junior believes that here at Rovers is the place for him to grow and develop and we will give him every encouragement to do just that. There is such an outstanding talent and ability there and we now want to make him a regular first team player. He's certainly got all the ability to be that and hopefully now we can encourage and coach that to improve still further over the next year or two.

"We are doing very, very well for young talent. I think as a football club we should take great pride from that - I certainly didn't think we could get into this position so quickly."