Sam Hart says he is focussed on playing as much as he can for Southend United during his loan spell, despite penning a new deal at Ewood Park.

Hart agreed a one year extension to his previous contract at Rovers which was set to expire in the summer.

The 22-year-old swapped Rochdale for Southend in January, impressing on his Shrimpers debut as they beat Bradford City 4-0.

The left back, signed from Liverpool for an undisclosed fee in August 2017, has played just seven times for Rovers, the last of which came in December 2017.

Since then he has had three separate loan spells away from the club, but his focus now is on helping the Blues as much as he can.

“I want to get as many games as I can and I want to help the team as much as possible too,” Hart told the Essex Echo.

“I’ve spoken to the manager at Blackburn (Tony Mowbray) and he thought coming to Southend would be a really good experience for me.

“I was really keen to sign because playing games in League One will help me to improve but I want us to get as many points as we can.

“Saturday’s game at Bradford was the best possible way to start and hopefully we can keep doing well now.”

Hart impressed new boss Chris Powell, himself a former left back.

And Hart believes the relationship with his new boss could be key to his progress in the final months of the season.

He added: “The fact the manager here was a left-back himself and had a really good career himself is great for me,” said Hart.

“I’m sure I’ll learn a lot but the main thing is getting games and points.

“That’s what I’m coming here to do.”