BLACKBURN boss Mark Hughes has admitted he made a cheeky bid to sign Teddy Sheringham earlier this year.

Hughes is a big admirer of the former England international and he tried to lure him to Ewood in January, when Rovers were struggling for goals up front and battling to stay in the Premier League.

At that point, Sheringham was 38 and playing in the Championship with West Ham, but Hughes still felt the veteran poacher was capable of producing the goods in the Premiership, a point which has since been proved following the Hammers' promotion back to the top-flight.

Hughes made a formal approach for Sheringham only for West Ham to knock it back, and Hammers boss Alan Pardew has since reaped the rewards with the 39-year-old playing a pivotal role in helping to re-establish the newly-promoted Londoners as a Premiership force.

Hughes said: "I made a tentative enquiry for Teddy last January and wasn't given any encouragement.

"We thought we might be able to get him, but he was obviously a very important player for them last season."

Sheringham, who has clocked up an astounding 856 appearances since he made his debut with Millwall 21 years ago, scored an impressive 21 goals for West Ham last term as the club gained promotion back to the Premiership.

That prompted Pardew to offer Sheringham a new 12-month deal and he has continued to find the net regularly, scoring four times in 14 appearances this season, which includes a goal against Rovers on the opening day.

So just how long can the Premiership's eldest statesman keep producing the goods at the highest level?

"It is up to Teddy, and whoever wants to employ him, how long he continues," said Hughes.