Blackburn Rovers have applied for a place in next season's Intertoto Cup, along with UEFA Cup holders Sevilla.

Despite being in with a real chance of qualifying for the UEFA Cup via their league position, Rovers chairman John Williams believes it will be advantageous for the club to enter for the second consecutive season.

Williams told the Lancashire Telegraph: "We have applied for the Intertoto Cup. We entered it last season and we've never regretted it.

"It gave us an excellent start to the pre-season and although we didn't qualify for the group stages of the Uefa Cup, it gave us a route into Europe.

"However, we would like to think we can qualify for the Uefa Cup as of right.

"There's 13 games to go, six at home and seven away, and we're fourth in the form table behind the league's top three teams, and we're two points outside the Uefa Cup places.

"We're hoping to take as many points as we can to try and qualify for Europe through our league position.

"But, if not, we have entered the Intertoto Cup. This is the last time we will be able to qualify via this route as it will close after next season."

Meanwhile, Sevilla also applied due to their lacklustre domestic form.

"We are doing it as a preventative measure," coach Manolo Jimenez said.

Sevilla are seventh in La Liga, two points behind sixth-placed Racing Santander. They host Barcelona on Saturday.

Eurosport