Blackburn star warns City boys of a Savage reception when Rovers are in town

The former Wales midfielder insists that, despite Arsenal's sniping and the focus on big-city challengers such as Everton, Tottenham and Manchester City, Rovers are geared up to spring a surprise.

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Outspoken Savage, at the heart of Blackburn's bright start to the campaign, wants due credit paid to manager Hughes and the team-mates he rates among the best sides in the Premiership.

Savage said: 'It's 14 games since we lost, to Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final last season. Everybody here is on a high and it's about time we got the credit we deserve.

'People have been talking about the likes of Manchester City, but no one's been talking about us. This run proves that we're up there with the best of them, and if we keep it up we'll be there or thereabouts this season.

'Anyone who has watched us so far can see how well we've been playing. We went to Everton a couple of weeks ago and played them off the park and we also created a lot more than Manchester City did against us on Sunday.

'Everyone has been saying how good City are. Well, we've got eight points from four games and we're unbeaten.

'The real turning point was last weekend against Arsenal, when we were 1-0 down at half-time.

'But we knew when we got into the dressing-room that we could win the game. It was an amazing feeling. Although we didn't beat them, we knew that if we kept plugging away that we could have.

'We've got a great squad - a great strike force, strength in depth in midfield, probably the best partnership in defence in Ryan Nelsen and Chris Samba, and maybe the best goalkeeper in the League in Brad Friedel.

'It's an exciting time to be a Blackburn player. It was important to keep the likes of Benni McCarthy, David Bentley, Morten Pedersen and Ryan this summer. But why would you want to leave Blackburn?

'Of course, if the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United or Liverpool come in for you, sometimes you can't say no. But why would you want to leave Blackburn to go to one of the other 16 clubs?

'We know as a group of players and with the staff that we've got here, we can produce the goods on match day.'

Savage played little part in the 1-0 win over City after the crunching tackle from Richard Dunne that he likened to being hit by a Blackpool tram, but fears that he had broken his leg again proved unfounded.

He said: 'It was a fair tackle, but my right foot got caught in the ground. It was so painful I thought I'd broken it again. It was like having a Blackpool tram go straight through me, the sort of tackle I like to make.

'We saw Robin van Persie's comments slaughtering us the other day, but Arsenal give as good as they get. Van Persie's tackle on Ryan when we played them was the worst in the entire game.

'People say nice things about them, but are happy to have a go at little old Blackburn. Arsene Wenger is a great manager, he should concentrate on his own team. They give as good as they get.

'It's a man's game, it's physical - you're going to get stuck in and make tackles and they do that, so it's very hypocritical of them.'