Rovers chief maintains star deal belief

Steve Kean is still hopeful of persuading Junior Hoilett to stay at relegated Blackburn when his contract expires next month.

The Rovers' chief was speaking out following his side's final Premier League match of the campaign which ended in a 2-1 defeat at Chelsea. And, while Kean is hoping to keep the nucleus of his best players in order to boost the club's chances of making an immediate return to the top flight from the Championship next season, he knows it will be difficult to do so. Hoilett has been heavily linked with a move away from Ewood Park since January after he refused to sign a new contract offer from Rovers with Tottenham and Arsenal interested along with European giants Bayern Munich and Marseille. But Kean will not give up hope of tying down the Canadian forward to a new deal at Rovers while he is still contracted them until June 30. "I don't think it is going to be just clubs in this country," said Kean on the interest in Hoilett. "I'm told that there is interest from abroad. I can understand why because he has had some great performances, not only this season, but the past couple of seasons." But, he added: "We'll make a last-ditch effort to put something in front of him. You never know."