BLACKBURN Rovers remain confident of signing Brian McBride despite reports suggesting that Fulham are ready to hijack the deal.

Rovers made a formal offer for the striker yesterday and chief executive John Williams is optimistic that will be accepted, leaving the way clear for the 31-year-old to become a Blackburn player early next week.

"We've made a formal offer for Brian and I was led to believe that it would be accepted by both the MLS and the player himself, subject to contracts being exchanged," said Williams.

"So we are hopeful that we can tie things up in the next couple of days."

Reports emerged last night suggesting that Fulham were ready to join the race for the striker.

Cottagers boss Chris Coleman could be in the market for a front man if Louis Saha joins Manchester United and McBride is thought to be one of the names he's considering as a possible replacement.

However, Rovers remain the frontrunners for his signature after Williams held talks with McBride's agent, Paul Stretford, yesterday.

The United States international will need a work permit but that should be granted automatically, thus clearing the way for him to join up with his new team-mates next week.

Meanwhile, Rovers boss Graeme Souness has admitted he would love to sign Manchester United midfielder Nicky Butt if he could afford him.

Souness is a big admirer of the England international but with United asking £5 million, that puts him way out of Rovers' price-range.

"I'm not alone in liking Nicky Butt. Probably all the clubs in the country would want to take him and maybe once upon a time we could be in there battling for him, but that's no longer the case," said Souness.

"That's something we've got to accept."

Souness has also quashed suggestions that Rovers might be able to persuade United to release Butt on loan.

"If I was Manchester United, I don't think there would be any possibility of that," said Souness.

"Where's the mileage in that for them?"

In the meantime, Souness has warned his players to brace themselves for a dog-fight, even if they win at Manchester City today.

Three weeks ago, Souness said a charge for Europe was still a realistic goal for Rovers.

However, recent results have prompted him to readjust his sights and now he's focusing on the battle at the bottom.

"We can't kid ourselves. We are now firmly in a dog-fight, along with another half a dozen clubs which could escalate to even more," said Souness.

"It's not a quick fix. A lot of the chat in the past has been 'if we can win today, then we can move up four or five places.'

"But for now and the foreseeable future, it's about getting the points to get ourselves away from the bottom three.

"It's not a case of looking upwards now, I think we are looking over our shoulder."