Blackburn manager Mark Hughes reckons his side are perfectly placed to launch an assault into the Premier League's top six this season.

Rovers were slipping towards the bottom half of the table after a run of just one win in eight matches leading up to Christmas.

But the Lancashire club moved back up to ninth and within three points of the top six after claiming a 2-1 victory at Derby on Sunday.

And Hughes feels they could clinch European qualification via their league finish this term with another strong finish to their campaign.

"We're in much better shape than at this stage last year," he said.

"We're up to 30 points and it was late January before we reached the 30-point mark last year, and that was after a decent run that got us into the top half.

"We're very much ahead of where we were last year so we want to kick on now.

"We're usually better in the second half of the season and we hope that's going to be the case again.

"If that does happen, then we're going to have a fine season."