Former Blackburn Rovers star feels club should 'absolutely' make Michael O'Neill move

Sherwood won the Premier League title with Rovers in 1995 and has previously spoken highly of O’Neill after he started his Blackburn reign by beating Queens Park Rangers and Preston North End.

O’Neill has agreed a deal until the end of this season at Ewood Park but calls are already growing for the former Stoke City chief to extend his stay in Lancashire.

Reports have suggested the club’s owners are ready to offer O’Neill a three-year contract to go full-time with Blackburn after Northern Ireland’s hopeful World Cup qualification bid – they face Italy in a play-off semi-final on March 26.

O’Neill took over with Blackburn sitting inside the Championship's relegation zone, and despite losing their last two matches, Rovers are now four points above the drop.

With Sherwood clear planning for the future is essential, he hopes O’Neill will stick around beyond this season.

"I think the Championship is the most competitive league in the world – the most competitive,” Sherwood told the Lancashire Telegraph. “I think since he’s been in there, he’s done a fantastic job.

"They just need to keep hold of someone and believe in someone, and the recruitment is key.

"At that level, you can’t get many wrong, you know, because if you get them wrong, you’ve still got them on your books, and it punishes you to spend elsewhere.

"Michael has done a good job. I think he looks like a real experienced, level-headed manager who’s steering them certainly in the right direction.

"Like I say, this is wide open. I think that they, please God, they’re safe. I think they will be.

"They need to start planning ahead. It’s difficult for Blackburn to plan ahead...unless they’re going to go with Michael only on a permanent basis after the World Cup, absolutely."