AFTER years of suffering in the shadows of their more illustrious and glamorous neighbours, Manchester City fans will be visiting Ewood Park with a rare sense of hope and expectation.

The summer arrival of six multi-million pound stars for the grand sum of £78million, and still counting, has suddenly spiralled City into the game’s elite and left many tipping them to break the monopoly of the Premier League’s big four.

One man who will be watching the start of their new era with particular interest today is former City and Blackburn midfielder Garry Flitcroft, after being left with ‘mixed feelings’ over the sudden change of power.

Not that he begrudges the blue half of Manchester their moment in the sun. Far from it, having spent five seasons playing in front of fans he describes as “some of the most loyal in the world”.

He fears, however, that City’s “ridiculous” spending spree could be the tip of the iceberg when it comes to polarising the Premier League’s haves and have-nots – leaving the majority left without a dream.

“Manchester City supporters are fantastic,” he said. “They have always got behind their team, even through the bad times and there have been many of them.

“They still got crowds like 35,000 when they were playing in the Third Division and that is different class. You wouldn’t get many clubs with turn-outs like that during their bad times.

“It is great for the fans seeing all these world class players arriving and, sure, they deserve it.

“But what effect will it have on the Premier League and football in general?

“Not a great one if you ask me.”

Flitcroft, who made more than 250 appearances in his 10 years at Ewood Park, is now a manager at non league Leigh Genesis and enjoying his experience in the wilderness of grass roots football.

All a different world to the one currently being experienced by Mark Hughes at Eastlands but, as the rich continue to get richer, Flitcroft believes more and more clubs will begin to fall by the wayside.

“It stands to reason really, doesn’t it?” he said. “Teams like Manchester City are driving prices up and up and that just makes it increasingly difficult for the rest to keep up.

“What do they do? Try and spend to keep up and risk the club’s future? It can’t be done – Leeds have shown that. But I’m afraid it means teams like Blackburn, and most of the rest of the Premier League, are just playing to survive now.

“I think the entertainment is going out of the game now. What fun is there in seeing the rich sides hammer everyone in sight? That is what has been happening in recent years.

“I am sure Blackburn fans will tell you, it is is becoming harder and harder for teams like them to compete with the big sides. It is a huge shame really.”

So City just have to turn up against Sam Allardyce’s comparative paupers at Ewood Park and they will walk away with the three points then?

Stands to reason when you compare Rovers’ summer spending spree of a little more than £10m to City’s £78m. Flitcroft, though, has been in football long enough to know nothing ever is logical in the beautiful game.

“Having said all that, the Premier League is still the best league in the world,” he said. “It has the best players, the best fans and is still the most competitive league in the world – although that is showing signs of stopping.

“I loved playing in the league, it is different class and I still believe sides like Blackburn can upset teams like Manchester City. It is just becoming more difficult.

“Blackburn Rovers will be fine this season. Sam Allardyce is clearly a manager who knows what he is doing and I am sure he will get the most out of a limited budget.”

Having dragged Rovers out of relegation mire last season, after replacing the under-fire Paul Ince in November, Allardyce has had the chance to stamp his mark on the Ewood Park outfit this summer.

The likes of Andre Ooijer, Tugay, Aaron Mokoena, Roque Santa Cruz and Matt Derbyshire have now all departed but, with six new faces coming in, Flitcroft is confident there is still a lot to look forward to.

“John Williams deserves a great deal of credit,” he said.

“As a chairman he has done a magnificent job and has helped stabilise the club over the past five years.

"They have also got top players like David Dunn still at the club and I think they will surprise a few over the coming months.”