AS Europe’s footballing powers continue to race away from their peers at an alarming speed, Steven Reid insists the Premier League dream is still alive for the have-nots.

As the likes of Manchester City, Chelsea and Manchester United continue to send price tags and wages spiralling, accusations of the death of football have been rife, but Reid is adamant the English top flight is still the place to be.

While a repeat of Blackburn’s title triumph back in 1995 looks now almost impossible for the majority of the Premier League, as the big guns look like dominating for years to come, Reid is still relishing football’s future.

He is the first to accept most of the Premier League can forget about the ultimate prize on offer but points to Rovers’ own Worthington Cup success in recent past as proof money isn’t everything.

“Of course the dream is still alive for fans and players,” said Reid.

“You can see from the reaction of everyone at games last season, like Tottenham, Wigan and West Brom, what Premier League football means to a town like Blackburn.

“You see Burnley have joined us and that will definitely add a bit more spice next year.

“Premier League football is massive to the lesser clubs in the league and is a massive part of the area.

“You can tell by the crowd’s reaction what it means to be bringing people up so they can see the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal.

“It is massively important we keep that status for years to come.”

Having missed almost the entire last season through to injury, Reid is determined to be involved in the coming campaign as Rovers look to shrug off the memories of their 2008/09 relegation scrap.

He believes the FA Cup, Carling Cup, and even the fight for Europe are still well in Rovers’ reach and knows the importance of staying in the ‘best league in the world’ is more than ever.

He said: “People have said it before but you have a league of four or five at the top, who can spend £20million on a player and whatever wages. For clubs like ourselves getting into Europe is like our league title.

“You have to break the league down into separate leagues. I know we were in the relegation bit last season, but next season we have to be in the league of teams fighting to get into Europe and to have some decent cup runs.

“Look at Everton. They have got to the final of the FA Cup and you have to aim for those sort of things. You have to accept the new owners of clubs and big money paid means we are not going to be able to compete at that level.

“But on our day we can compete with the better teams still and hopefully next season and years to come we won’t find ourselves in the position we were in last year.”

Reid himself has gone close to success during his six years at Ewood, playing in Rovers’ 3-0 FA Cup semi final defeat to Arsenal, but is now ready to transform that ‘nearly’ tag into silverware.

He said: “Obviously in recent years, Rovers won the league cup. I would love to be part of something like that and would love to win some silverware. At a lesser level I won the league with Millwall and you can’t beat the feeling of winning stuff.

“I have no doubt the manager will want to do well in every competition we play in. There is no reason we can’t go all the way and compete in one-off games against any opposition and get a result.

“We have seen it before and hopefully one day I can win some silverware with Blackburn. I remember the FA Cup semi-final against Arsenal , we didn’t really turn up on the day .

“It was a great occasion but it would be nice to get to Wembley and win some honours. You never know. It is obviously going to be difficult, with the money clubs are spending, but one day maybe.”

Rovers’ great escape has filled Reid with hope for the season ahead, after comfortably avoiding relegation despite being five points adrift at safety.

He admits Sam Allardyce’s managerial appointment just before Christmas proved the catalyst for what was to follow as he relishes the months ahead.

“Just grinding out results seems to have been a factor,” said Reid.

“Getting into the habit of not conceding and enjoying a couple of good runs and getting big results when we needed.

“His record speaks for itself, it has been European form, so if we can start that way there is no reason we can’t be up towards the top of the league next year.

“You don’t become a bad manager though. I got on great with Paul Ince but sometimes things don’t work out.

"He has done well at Macclesfield and MK Dons but I am sure he will do good things again.

"It just didn’t work out and that is one of those things that happen in football.”