Rovers boss backs striker Yorke

Souness's relationship with Yorke has shown clear signs of strain during recent weeks, prompting speculation linking the former Manchester United star with a move to Wolves.

The Rovers chief even admitted that Yorke had 'the hump' with him as a result of being left on the bench in favour of Academy starlet Paul Gallagher.

That led to Souness fielding the inevitable questions about the 32-year-old's private life.

But the tough-talking Scot has stressed that Yorke is towing the line and he is also considering handing him a recall after his point-saving heroics at Wolves earlier in the week, when he climbed off the bench to grab a late equaliser against Wanderers.

"I understand that Dwight, who's a single young man, does enjoy himself but he does it the right way," said Souness.

"At the end of the day, it's all about the 90 minutes on a Saturday. You can get players who are great in training then in the 90 minutes on a Saturday, they find it difficult to get themselves up there, or, in footballing terms, they bottle it.

"And you get others where it's the reverse of that.

"For me, the 90 minutes on a Saturday is the all-important thing and you give it everything.

"I don't expect people to play well in every game but as long as they give everything and, in the build up to the Saturday, they give themselves every chance to have a good game by looking after themselves then that's okay.

"So I don't think Dwight's social life is a problem."

In the past, Yorke's life away from the game has come under scrutiny, particularly in his latter days at Manchester United when Sir Alex Ferguson voiced his concerns on a number of occasions.

But the player appears to have toned things down since he joined Rovers in a £1.5 million deal last summer.

Nevertheless, Blackburn fans have only seen fleeting glimpses of the telepathic understanding which Yorke shared with Andy Cole during their days together at Old Trafford.

It was perhaps inevitable that he was always going to find it difficult to adapt to life after United, where he won the treble in 1999.

But Souness insists both Yorke and Cole do not take life at Rovers for granted.

"I think Andy Cole and Dwight are intelligent enough to realise that after leaving a club like Manchester United this is as good as it gets.

"There is just nowhere better than this. You are not going to leave United and go to Arsenal or go to Chelsea.

"We are in that next group of teams and this is as good as it gets when you leave Manchester United."

Souness also said he was pleased to see that Yorke was unhappy at being left out of the team recently.

"Dwight is unhappy at being left out and I'm happy that he's unhappy because I'd hate to think he was going home with a smile on his face because he wasn't playing," said Souness.

"There's only a few players who can really argue the point that they haven't deserved to be watching from the touchline at times this season.

"Our season has been hit and miss and in the second half, we are going to try and get some consistency."

Meanwhile, Souness continues to be frustrated in his efforts to bring new players in during the January transfer window.

He was interested in signing Real Sociedad's Javier De Pedro but now those plans have had to be scrapped.

"We thought we could get him until the end of the season but the boy himself wants a two and a half year contract," said Souness.

"I've not seen him play, I've only seen videos of him, and I wasn't prepared to go down that road."

Souness also denied suggestions that he was biding his time in his quest to bring players in in an effort to force the price down.

"We've got no gameplan. Ideally, we would like to have someone in for today but that hasn't happened.

"I don't think anyone can play a cat and mouse game when you've only got four weeks to operate in.

"If a club wants to sell then they are going to sell, but if they think they can hold on and get an extra few quid for someone then they are brave people at this time because of the state of the game."