Blackburn Rovers chief executive John Williams today said the board will make every possible effort to strengthen the squad but they cannot plunge the club into further debt with irresponsible spending.

Williams and his fellow directors have come under increasing pressure from fans to back Graeme Souness in the transfer market.

And Williams has pledged that every spare penny will be spent on new players, although he stressed it would be difficult and potentially irresponsible to borrow more as a quick-fix solution to Rovers' current injury crisis.

As I understand it, Rovers are set to announce pre-tax losses of £12 million when they hold their Annual General Meeting at the end of the month.

Bank borrowings are also thought to be around £15 million depending on where the club finishes in the table at the end of the season.

Therefore, Rovers are under pressure to reduce their borrowings to lower levels, which is why the board will not risk jeopardising the long-term financial security of the club by going into even deeper debt.

"It says on our crest that Blackburn Rovers was formed in 1875 and it's my job to make sure this club is still here long after myself and Graeme Souness have gone," said Williams.

"I can assure fans that every spare penny we have will be given to the manager for new players.

"The bottom line is it's desperately difficult to run a club of our size at this level.

"With careful planning, it's just about possible to break even at operating level but the problem with that is there's no money left in the pot to buy new players and we can't afford to keep increasing our borrowings."

Rovers have spent approximately £48 million on new players since they returned to the Premiership three years ago.

Around £28 million of that has been recouped on player sales (including the money for Damien Duff and David Dunn), which means Souness's net spending is £20 million, hence the reason why Rovers are overdrawn at the bank to the extent they are.

On top of that, the club ran the eighth highest wage bill in the Premiership last season, even though their average gate was the fourth lowest in the league.

Wages currently account for approximately 80 per cent of the turnover and Williams is concerned that this level cannot be sustained indefinitely.

"The board was prepared to gamble financially last season by paying the eighth highest wage bill in the league and it paid off as we finished sixth," said Williams.

"But we don't have a turnover to sustain a wage bill at that level indefinitely."

Meanwhile, as the spectre of relegation continues to hang over the club, Williams has warned that it would cost Rovers more than £20 million if they went down at the end of the season.

As things stand, more than half of the club's annual income comes from Sky and other TV revenue.

If Rovers slipped out of the top flight then they would lose the vast majority of that income, even taking into account the £5 million parachute payment they would receive for each of the first two seasons out of the Premier League.

"If the club got relegated it could result in a long rebuilding period," said Williams.