Santa Cruz Relieved Hughes Is Staying Blackburn striker Roque Santa Cruz has spoken of his joy at boss Mark Hughes not taking the Newcastle job

Blackburn Rovers boss Mark Hughes was among the names heavily linked with the Newcastle United manager's position, at one point even the bookies' favourite.

But as Kevin Keegan was unveiled at St. James' Park, Rovers striker Roque Santa Cruz spoke of his relief that Hughes was staying put.

"If he had gone, I would have been happy for him - if it was something he really wanted, I'd have wished him luck," said the Paraguayan, who has made a storming impact at Ewood Park since arriving from Bayern Munich in the summer, collecting the Premier League player of the month award for December.

"But I've only been at Blackburn for six months and it would have been disappointing if he'd left so soon when it's gone so well for me," Santa Cruz continued. "He was the main reason I took the choice to come here.

"I listened to him and I believed in what he was trying to do. I knew what a great player he was and he told me that as an ex-player he felt he could help me to improve. It's a relief that it's been sorted and he's staying.

"I've played under some great managers but I rate him very highly. He was a great striker in his day and it's been great to learn off him. But he's also a strong character who can get the best out of people."

No Approach Made For Hughes Yet Blackburn Rovers chairman John Williams insists that contrary to some reports, Newcastle United have not picked up th

The Blackburn manager became the bookmakers' favourite to take over at St James' Park after first choice Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp surprisingly turned down a huge contract offer last week.

Although Hughes has attempted to distance himself from increasing press speculation, he declined to unequivocally rule himself out of the running, a decision that has unintentionally worked to fan the flames of rumour.

But an irritated Williams was at pains to maintain that no approach has been received by Newcastle, while questioning why ‘Sparky’ Hughes would want to leave Ewood Park after guiding them to a healthy position.

"We have had no contact from Newcastle whatsoever," he said.

"He is doing a great job here and we obviously want to keep him.

"We are chasing a UEFA Champions League place so why would he want to leave?"

Blackburn Eye Faye Blackburn could be ready to replace Robbie Savage with Amdy Faye...

Blackburn Rovers are reportedly interested in signing unsettled Rangers midfielder Amdy Faye.

Experienced midfield hothead Robbie Savage switched to Derby County last week to aid kick-start their battle against relegation. Rovers could see the former Portsmouth and Newcastle star as an ideal replacement.

The Mirror reported that the Senegalese midfielder is due to arrive at Ewood Park this week for a trial and potential signing talks with gaffer Mark Hughes.

Faye has failed to settle at Ibrox since joining on loan from Charlton in the summer. Limited to just three appearances, he has been overlooked by Senegal for the African Cup of Nations.

He made an ill-fated debut in the 4-2 humbling at Tynecastle against Hearts in September.

He was also one of five men arrested - alongside Harry Redknapp and Milan Mandaric - in late November 2007 on allegations of transfer corruption.

Blackburn are unlikely to meet much resistance from Rangers, who have ample midfield cover in the squad.

Hughes Sidesteps Toon Rumours To Hail Victory Blackburn Rovers manager had to field questions about the Newcastle vacancy rather than his side's dram

Although Mark Hughes has not explicity ruled himself out of the running for the Newcastle job, the Blackburn manager - now the bookies' favourite to succeed Sam Allardyce at St James' Park - he only really wanted to talk about the win over Bolton.

Faced with repeated questions about his future, Hughes re-iterated that he wanted to focus on his job with Blackburn.

Speaking ahead of the game, Hughes told Sky Sports: "There is a lot of speculation which has been going on for quite some time but my focus today is obviously to get a result for Blackburn Rovers as it always is come match days.

"So really, I don't really want to be talking about speculation that has nothing to do with me. It's a case of getting the lads focused and that is what we are trying to do."

Then after the 2-1 win over Bolton, Hugheswas again asked about the Newcastle job. He added: "You keep on trying to draw the speculation out of me.

"It's got nothing to do with me - as a professional football manager then speculation surrounds each and everyone of us when a vacancy comes up.

"But all I can do is work extremely hard like I have always done at Blackburn Rovers."

Hughes thought his team had deserved their victory over Wanderers.

"I thought we were very unlucky to go in at half-time one-nil down," he said.

"[It was] a great strike by the lad [Kevin Nolan, who scored Bolton's goal] but obviously [I was] disappointed that we conceded there.

"Second-half I thought we came out with real determination, real positive aspect to our play and we got our reward in the end.

"I thought over the whole 90 minutes we certainly deserved to win."

Hughes felt Rovers were OK as a team in the first half, and outstanding after the break.

And when asked if his players had shown character to win from behind, Hughes said: "Yes, I think it is something like eight games that we've conceded and then had to try and get back on terms and get something out of games.

"I think there's not many teams this year that have been able to do that on so many occasions. So I think that illustrates the character and determination of the squad.

"There was a lot of speculation surrounding the game today. I thought everyone was very focused," he said, including the management, staff, "everyone surrounding Blackburn today."

"It was important to focus on the job in hand and that was to win a very important Premier League game.

"We have been able to do that and I think that shows a great credit. We have won three games on the belt now, I think ten points out of the last 12 and we are in good nick, we are in the top half of the league and I was pleased with everyone today."

Blackburn Matchwinner Roberts Wants More Chances Jason Roberts came off the bench in the 77th minute of Blackburn's 2-1 victory over Bolton today and

Match-winner Jason Roberts is hoping that his decisive contribution in the final quarter-hour of Blackburn's 2-1 win over Bolton will "put pressure" on Rovers' boss Mark Hughes to give him more first-team opportunities.

Striker Roberts demonstrated both power and pace after Roque Santa Cruz set him up to go on a marauding run that ended with an injury-time strike into the bottom corner that completed Blackburn's comeback from a goal down to Bolton at The Reebok.

Christopher Samba had equalised for Blackburn in the 53rd minute, after Kevin Nolan opened the scoring for Bolton with a magnificent first-half volley from a narrow angle.

"It's obviously been disappointing not to play many games - but I think today I showed a little bit what I can do," Roberts told Sky Sports.

"It's been frustrating with injuries since I came to this club. But I think I'm ready to play; I've been ready for a while now and I want to put pressure on the manager and show people what I can do."

Asked about his future, Roberts said: "It's not really in my hands at the moment. I just want to play football."