MARK Hughes reckons Benni McCarthy is ready to commit his future to Blackburn Rovers after being excited by the club's dealings in the transfer market this summer.

The Rovers boss admits there was a point earlier this summer when he feared he might lose his number one striker to a top Premiership rival.

But after outlining the club's ambition by signing Roque Santa Cruz from Bayern Munich, Hughes is now convinced that McCarthy will still be a Rovers player when the transfer window slams shut a week today.

The Ewood chief, who confirmed there had been some tentative enquiries for some of his star players this summer, said: "Benni had an outstanding season last season, and that's why there was a real determination on our part to make sure he was in a position to have another one this year.

"I think he's excited by what we've done with the squad in the close season, and he knows himself that he's at a good club, and he's got an opportunity to be successful here, so I think he's quite calm about the situation, and he's glad to be here."

Hughes' biggest challenge this summer has been to hang on to the key players he already has, rather than supplement his existing squad with new faces.

And, thanks to the backing of the board, he seems on course to achieve that goal, barring any dramatic late moves before next Friday's midnight deadline.

"I've been given the backing of my chairman and the board and they said I didn't have to sell anyone, and that's the case," said Hughes.

"They've been good to their word and I haven't wanted to sell anyone either.

"As I've said, I think the squad is as strong as it's ever been.

"We've still got a week to go but I'm not too concerned about people leaving, and certainly less so than I was about a month ago.

"But that's half the battle (keeping hold of your best players). This time last year was exactly the same. I had to make sure we didn't lose key personnel, and that's what we did.

"And we've done the same this year."

A new contract has even been mooted for McCarthy but, right now, Hughes is focussing on the here and now, which means building on a promising start to the season.

Boosted by Sunday's gutsy 1-1 draw with Arsenal, Rovers will head to Everton in confident mood tomorrow, and now Hughes has had time to reflect on that performance against Gunners, he is even more heartened than he was at the weekend by the way his side competed against one of the big four'.

"I know how well we played on the day and we looked at the stats on Tuesday morning, like I'm sure Arsene Wenger did, and that showed that we'd played very well and dominated them," said the Rovers chief.

"In fact, it showed we actually out-passed them, which doesn't happen very often to Arsenal sides.

"So in almost every facet of the game we were better than them and, after them being so dismissive of us on the day, it was actually quite pleasing to see the stats on the Tuesday."