SOME saw it as mission impossible when Sam Allardyce arrived at Ewood Park last December, with Blackburn Rovers five points adrift of Premier League safety and seemingly in crisis.

A humiliating 3-0 defeat at neighbours Wigan Athletic inevitably brought an end to Paul Ince’s troubled six-month reign and saw Rovers call on ‘Big Sam’ to come to the rescue - at the second time of asking.

Allardyce had already pulled out of the running to be Mark Hughes’ successor at Ewood in the summer, with fans’ opinion very much against the former Bolton man, but when he finally arrived in December he was greeted as the club’s saviour.

At the time Rovers’ eight-year stay in the Barclays Premier League was under serious threat as the experiment of employing rookie boss Ince backfired.

The prospects of survival looked bleak, with injuries crippling his squad and star striker Roque Santa Cruz publicly declaring his wish to leave for a “more ambitious club”.

But, typical of the man, Allardyce won his first match less than 48 hours after taking over and ultimately guided them to 15th, seven clear of the drop zone.

It was all achieved in a familiar “Big Sam” style with no money but lots of effort. But even he admits the way in which it was achieved surprised him.

“I look back at what we achieved and it was pretty miraculous,” said the Rovers boss.

“What happened from December until the end of the season was a greater achievement than I originally thought.

“That’s based on many things, like the fact that we spent less than anybody else.

“Tottenham threw £40million at it, Stoke threw £10million at it and Hull City threw six or seven million at it while we just got El-Hadji Diouf for £1million and took Gael Givet on loan.

“That, when you reflect on it, shows you how big an achievement it was by everybody.

”The whole team deserves a lot of credit and that gives us a great deal of confidence going into the new season.”

Having stabilised the club he has at least now had a proper pre-season to make the necessary changes and put things in place to prevent a repeat performance this season.

A limited budget means matching the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea remains just a pipe dream, but the man who guided Bolton into their first European campaign will not settle for merely surviving again.

He believes the club have the playing staff and the potential to enjoy a cup run or to be able to challenge for the Europa League once more.

He said: “I couldn’t be doing with just surviving, It would drive me up the wall.

"I’m obviously a realist. A realistic position for Blackburn Rovers would be a mid-table finish. That’s the reality.

“The glory of getting to a cup final is something we all desire for every year but unfortunately it gets put by the wayside based on your particular position in the Premier League.

“Because there’s one thing that is already written on the top of your budget is you must stay in the Premier League. That unfortunately overrides everything else.

“So to get to a cup final is something a club like ours being realistic has a chance of doing, if it gets a good draw, if it gets the right run and more importantly if we get off to a good start with few injuries and the squad’s fit.

"Then you can have a go for it because it doesn’t take too many wins to get to a cup final.

“But if you’re not doing well in the Premier League, then getting three points is the only focus and the cup competitions become a secondary scenario again.”

Marseille reject Givet proved a revelation on loan last season and Allardyce was quick to tie him to a permanent deal earlier this summer, while the manager has used his famous skills to wheel and deal with free transfers and pick up little-known foreign players.

But he acknowledges there is very little wrong with the squad he inherited from Ince and his predecessor Mark Hughes and he just has to work hard to give them more depth.

”Quality is one of the most important things we are looking to bring into the club, not mediocrity, and that is where it becomes very difficult,” he added.

”Some of them don’t want to come, some want to play in the Premier League but want European football and sometimes you have to do a little bit of convincing this is the right place to come and play football.

”While it might not be the biggest club they have played for they will have as good a time here as they have had anywhere else, and if that is the case then we can be very successful together.”