Blackburn striker Roque Santa Cruz has set his sights on firing Rovers to UEFA Cup qualification after rediscovering his form in front of goal.The Paraguay international played a crucial role in scoring twice as his 10-man team beat Wigan 3-1 in Saturday's Premier League clash at Ewood Park.

After also finding the net in the previous weekend's 2-1 defeat at West Ham, it appears his threat up front - and Blackburn's European challenge - has been reignited.

Following a run of just one goal in 10 matches former Bayern Munich striker Santa Cruz has scored three in two and now has 18 for the season - 14 of which have come in the league.

And the 26-year-old is targeting more to help Mark Hughes' side get into Europe next season.

"Any striker is happy when they score. I am very happy with the goals (against Wigan), especially because we won," he said.

"I miss it when I don't score that much but I am wishing to score every game now."

Blackburn are just one point behind sixth-placed Portsmouth but with Aston Villa and Manchester City also in the hunt Santa Cruz knows securing UEFA Cup football will not be easy.

"It is a tough thing because many teams are fighting for the place," he added.

"But I think the chance is realistic so we will keep pushing and working the same way."

Santa Cruz, and to some extent his goalscoring strike partner Jason Roberts, benefited from Hughes' bold approach against Wigan.

Having gone down to 10-men when centre-back Christopher Samba

was sent off for bringing down Emile Heskey in the 17th minute many managers would have adopted a safety-first approach and withdrawn a striker.

However, Hughes, conscious of the fact his side need victories to sustain a European challenge, dropped Steven Reid to right-back and played with a narrower midfield which allowed Santa Cruz and Roberts to remain on the pitch.

The fact both strikers scored justified the decision and Hughes said: "I felt they were the key to the performance just by their energy and movement and their ability to work off each other.

"I think they were able to occupy the four back players of Wigan and as a consequence the extra man they had did not become of any significance.

"It was a game that if we played the right way we would get opportunities and even with 10 men we were still creating things."

Santa Cruz said he was not worried about getting the call to come off when Rovers lost Samba.

"We know the coach is very brave and he believes in the team and those who started," he said.

"I think he realised everyone needed to work really hard to win the game and the team did everything to win the game."

Santa Cruz won the man of the match award but the best player on show was David Bentley, who set up both the Paraguayan's goals and excelled when moved into the centre of a midfield three after the sending-off.

However, the midfielder - who will hope to start for England against France in Paris on Wednesday - paid tribute to the quality of his team-mate.

"He makes intelligent runs and works hard," Bentley said.

"He is a top player, he knows where the net is and if you stick it in areas he makes good runs and gets on the end of it."

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