FANS' favourite Tugay must wait until the end of the season before discovering if he is to be offered a new contract.

The veteran Blackburn midfielder, who turns 38 this summer, believes he can play on for at least another 12 months at Premier League level and wants to finish his career at Ewood Park.

However, Rovers chief Mark Hughes has still to decide whether to extend the Turk's contract or not, and a final decision has been put on hold until after the game at Birmingham on May 11.

That means Saturday's clash with Derby County could turn out to be the maestro's farewell appearance at Ewood, although no-one will know for sure until after the season has finished.

Explaining the dilemma facing Hughes, a senior Rovers source said: "Mark is genuinely torn over Tugay and whether to offer him a new deal.

"He has got a quota of players in mind for next season, and an idea of the amount of money he will have to spend.

"He's still tossing around a few different ideas at the moment, so he has told Tugay it will be the end of the season before he makes a final decision."

While Hughes appreciates it would be fitting to give the midfielder a proper send-off against the Rams if this does indeed prove to be his farewell season, he is also mindful Rovers still have a chance of qualifying for Europe so he wants to avoid any possible distractions.

When pressed about on-going contract talks with a number of players at the weekend, Hughes replied: "We'll probably wait until the end of the season now. "We are very close to where we want to be points wise so our focus is on that.

"Any housekeeping we need to tidy up at the end of the season will be done then."

Signed by Graeme Souness from Rangers for a bargain £1.3m in 2001, Tugay has been a remarkable servant for Rovers, clocking up 256 appearances and scoring 12 goals, many of them spectacular, during his seven years with the club.

However, over the last six months, those appearances in the first team have become more and more fleeting, and it is perhaps telling that Tugay has not played a single minute since Johann Vogel made his Rovers debut in the 0-0 draw at Reading five games ago.

He did return to the bench at Portsmouth on Sunday though, albeit as an unused substitute, and may well play some part against basement club Derby.