Emerton to stay a Rover

Qantas Socceroo midfielder Brett Emerton has confirmed he will remain at Blackburn Rovers after signing a new four-year deal with the club. The deal keeps him at the club until 2010.

Qantas Socceroo midfielder Brett Emerton has confirmed he will remain at Blackburn Rovers after signing a new four-year deal with the club.

Emerton, who was strongly linked with a move to Middlesbrough in the past week, will probably see out his overseas career with the north-west England club, with his contract to finish in 2010.

He has spent the last three seasons at Blackburn and has been a regular first team player, although last season he did spend more time on the bench.

However at the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany, Emerton showed his value to Australia and was one of Australia-s better players in the group stages. He was suspended for the second round loss to Italy and his energy and creativeness were noticeably missing in that game.

Emerton is likely to feature in Blackburn-s opening match of the season against Portsmouth at Fratton Park.

It is still unclear whether his Qantas Socceroo and Blackburn team mate Lucas Neill will remain at Ewood Park, with strong speculation he will move to Tottenham Hotspurs. Neill rejected the initial contract renewal from Blackburn.