SHEFFIELD United manager Neil Warnock is ready to step up his bid to sign veteran defender Craig Short.

The ambitious Blades boss wants to take the 35-year-old to Bramall Lane next season for one last swan-song.

And although Warnock has admitted his efforts may ultimately be in vain, he's not about to give up the chase for his top summer target without a fight.

Short's current deal with Rovers is due to expire in the summer and he's now free to speak to other clubs.

But the popular central defender has already publicly stated that he'd prefer to finish his career at Ewood if possible.

Rovers boss Graeme Souness is keen to offer him another one-year deal, even though he's likely to make the recruitment of a new central defender one of his top priorities this summer.

However, Warnock continues to watch developments closely and he won't accept defeat in his quest to lure Short to the 'Steel City' until Rovers have got his signature on a contract.

"Craig knows what the score is. Blackburn want him to stay and that makes it unlikely that he'll be coming here," said Warnock, who has previously worked with Short at Scarborough and Notts County.

"But I'm not going to rule him out. You can never say never in football and I'm not going to start now."

Meanwhile, Jonathon Douglas could win his first cap for the Republic of Ireland in tonight's friendly with Poland.

The Blackburn Rovers midfielder was drafted into the squad as a late replacement for Damien Duff.

And Republic boss Brian Kerr has hinted he may well blood a number of young players in the match as he looks to broaden his squad in preparation for the World Cup qualifiers.

"We've lost a lot of the regular players, the more experienced players," said Kerr.

"This is an opportunity for some of the younger players to get a chance and for us to expand the squad of players who have some experience before the World Cup qualifiers.

"I've brought some players in who are probably surprised that I've brought them in but I believe that they have the potential to be top players in a couple of years."

Elsewhere, Scotland Under-21 manager Rainer Bonhof saluted Paul Gallagher for inspiring his side to a battling draw in Denmark last night.

The young Scots were trailing to a goal from Ajax striker Michael Krohn-Delhi at half-time but they fought back to earn a 2-2 draw.

And Bonhof said Gallagher was instrumental in his side's recovery after becoming involved in a touchline tussle with Jacob Sorensen, which resulted in both players being booked.

"The key moment was when Paul Gallagher started fighting with his opponent because that showed the players wanted a result," said the Scotland boss.

"We were playing with too much respect but I could smell that the players wanted a result."