MATT Jansen's football career was put into cold perspective on a freezing night in Morecambe last Wednesday.

While the 26-year-old striker was putting in a fruitless performance against Newcastle reserves, one of his old striking rivals, Louis Saha, was putting the finishing touches to a £12.8 million move to Manchester United.

Three years ago, the two strikers were virtually on a par with each other as Blackburn and Fulham slugged it out in a battle for promotion from the First Division.

Saha provided the cutting edge for Jean Tigana's classy Londoners while Jansen was the wind beneath the wings of Graeme Souness's Rovers revolution.

In the end, both sides gained promotion to the Premiership and Saha and Jansen finished first and second respectively in the First Division scoring charts.

Saha won the race for the golden boot with 27 goals compared to Jansen's 23.

And both were named up front in the PFA's First Division team of the year, prompting pundits to hail the pair as the two best strikers outside the top division.

With that in mind, both were tipped to make a big impact in the Premiership the following season.

If anything, Jansen adapted to the step up in class more smoothly than his rival.

The former Crystal Palace striker found the net 10 times in the Premiership compared to Saha's eight.

On top of that, Jansen also scored six goals in the Worthington Cup, including one in the final, as Rovers won a major knockout trophy for the first time in 73 years.

Not surprisingly, the big clubs began to sit up and take note and so, too, did Sven Goran Eriksson, the England manager, who gave Jansen's name serious consideration when it came to formulating his squad for the 2002 World Cup.

But then disaster struck. A motorbike accident in Italy that summer left the striker fighting for his life, not just his football career.

Thankfully, he went on to make a full recovery but, while Saha's star has continued to rise, Jansen has spent the last 20 months painstakingly trying to put his career back together.

There have been brief flashes of the old magic. A stunning goal against Liverpool earlier in the season, when he juggled the ball from one foot to the other before crashing a shot past Jerzy Dudek, was the clearest sign we've seen yet.

But Graeme Souness clearly believes that Jansen still has some way to go and, given the team's present predicament where every single point is precious, he's not prepared to give him the run of games he desperately craves.

The result is a player stuck in limbo. Loaning him out to another club, where he would get the dozen or so games he needs to repair his shattered confidence, is not an option as long as Rovers have just four senior strikers -- the bare minimum required for the rigours of the Premiership.

So it may be that Matt might have to sit tight and wait for his chance to come.

I spoke to him in a drafty corridor at Christie Park last week and his determination to succeed burns brighter than ever.

If spirit and courage count for anything in life then he will win his battle -- and Rovers will feel as though they've signed a £12 million diamond.

We can but hope and pray.