MARK Hughes has been handed an extra cash incentive to take Blackburn Rovers to the FA Cup final.

Victory over Arsenal in the semi-final at the Millennium Stadium next month could net the Blackburn Rovers boss the cash he needs to sign a big-name striker.

Hughes has made public his desperation to boost the forward line when he embarks on his first summer of transfer dealing at the end of the season.

But chief executive John Williams has warned that funds are still "limited" despite Blackburn's cup success.

He said: "The funds we have available are up to and including the semi-final. If we progressed past that to the final the pot would be bigger.

"We do have limited funds but hope to be able to bring in a striker and Mark and his staff are looking at a number of potential options.

"They haven't come up with any names but there's a number of people they spend a lot of time scouting and looking at.

"But at the moment we are still focusing on the last seven or eight games of the season, and the semi-final, rather than thinking about the summer market and next season's squad."

Inevitably, speculation is already linking Craig Bellamy with a move to team up with his old Wales boss at Ewood.

The Newcastle striker is currently on loan at Celtic after falling out with Toon boss Graeme Souness but, while Hughes is a known admirer, the asking price could be Rovers' stumbling block.

However, the Blackburn manager knows he needs extra firepower as Paul Dickov, who has nine of his team's paltry figure of 25 Premiership goals, is the only forward who has impressed him.

Jonathan Stead, Jay Bothroyd, Paul Gallagher and Matt Jansen have all been played alongside him but Rovers have recently reverted to playing Dickov on his own up front.

Hughes said: "We have not scored as many goals as we would have liked this season. A few more here and there would have helped our situation significantly and it is obviously an area we are keen to improve.

"We do not discuss names of targets for a whole variety of reasons, but supporters can rest assured that we are already looking."

Blackburn Rovers reserves are in action at Bolton tonight (7pm).

The game will be played at the County Ground, the headquarters of the Lancashire FA, in Leyland.