IF Morten Gamst Pedersen is fit and available then I'd be tempted to hand him a baptism of fire against the might of Manchester United tomorrow.

Graeme Souness urgently needs to inject more pace and goals into his midfield and the talented Norwegian could be just the man to provide those missing ingredients against the Reds.

In the absence of Barry Ferguson, Rovers were crying out for a player who could get up and support the front two against Arsenal on Wednesday night.

At this level, it's vital your midfielders share the burden for goals with your strikers and Ferguson apart, Rovers currently don't have a player capable of getting into the opposition's box enough to cause serious damage.

That's why I'd consider throwing Pedersen straight in from the start tomorrow, and the fact he's an unknown quantity would certainly give United something extra to think about.

At the end of the day, you can pass sides to death for 90 minutes but if there's nothing at the end of it then you're not going to win football matches.

The first goal in a game is crucial and it's no coincidence that Rovers have failed to pick up a win so far after conceding first in each of their three games to date.

For all his clever passing, Tugay has never been a prolific scorer of goals and Dominic Matteo's first instinct is always going to be to defend so if Ferguson doesn't break forward and get into the box, then who else in the midfield is going to support the strikers?

From what I've read and heard, Pedersen sounds like the kind of player who loves to bomb forward and get his fair share of goals and those are exactly the qualities Rovers are missing.

He's got to be worth a gamble against United and if Rovers go out there with a positive enough attitude then I don't see why they can't get a result.

They should take heart from their first half performance at Highbury where they matched an excellent Arsenal side for long spells.

More of the same tomorrow might just see them pull off another famous upset.