MILESTONE man Markus Olsson admits there was a point when he was ready to leave Blackburn Rovers.

But the left-back, having just made his 100th appearance for the club, is now determined to remain at Ewood Park and help Rovers back into the Premier League.

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The Sweden international brought up the century in the 2-0 win home win over Ipswich Town before the international break.

And, having won his place back from Tommy Spurr, he is set to start this Saturday’s trip to MK Dons.

However it was not too long ago that Olsson was weighing up his future after being restricted to just two starts and four substitute appearances until the final two weeks of the 2013-14 season.

He said: “Yes, I did (think about leaving). It almost happened but I didn’t feel 100 per cent right to leave.

“I wanted to wait a little bit and then I got my chance while I waited.

“It felt good when I played and during the summer break the manager called me and what he told me on the phone is what I wanted to hear from the manager.

“I then signed a contract as it didn’t feel right to leave.”

With Spurr hit by a groin injury that would eventually sideline him for the best part of nine months Olsson played the last three games of the 2013-14 campaign – and has not looked back since.

He was named Rovers’ player of the year last season and will go into the club’s first ever league meeting with the Dons in good form.

But, having lost his spot to the fit-again Spurr for four matches earlier this season, Olsson is refusing to take his position for granted.

“It’s tough competition, we’ve got good players in every position, and nobody is safe in their spot,” said the 27-year-old.

“Tommy is a good player and you always have to be focused and try your best in training and not switch off, and show the manager that you want to play every week.”

In January Olsson was rewarded with a new one-year contract extension that runs out next summer.

He says he has not yet spoken to the club about a new deal.

But, after helping Rovers reach the FA Cup quarter-finals last season, where they were eventually knocked out by Liverpool after beating Swansea City and Stoke City, he would love to pull on their shirt in the top flight again.

“I haven’t been thinking about my ambitions for the future too much but I would love to play Premier League football again with Blackburn,” said Olsson, who was part of the Rovers squad which was relegated into the Championship in 2012.

“You could see how much it meant to the fans and to the players as well when we played against Premier League teams last season.

“We put that extra shift in and we did really well against good teams. Not just any Premier League teams, but top-10 teams in Stoke, Swansea and Liverpool.

“We did well in all of those games and you could see the boys showed we want to be playing at that level.

“And I think we showed as a team we can play at that level but to get that chance we need to be consistent as a team to get that promotion.

“If we could get that it would be good for the fans, the players and everyone in Blackburn, as we all want to get back there.”