GRAEME Souness was today counting the cost of Blackburn's 1-0 win over Newcastle as he faced up to the prospect of losing Barry Ferguson for the rest of the season.

Ferguson underwent an operation to repair a broken knee-cap last night after sustaining the injury in an accidental clash with United's Gary Speed.

And the initial prognosis is the former Rangers star will not kick a ball for Rovers again this season, which is a devastating set-back for Souness, who is also currently without fellow midfielders Steven Reid and David Thompson.

"We got the three points but our joy is tempered somewhat with the news about Barry Ferguson," said Souness.

"He has broken his knee-cap and that will mean he's out for the remainder of this season.

"That's a big blow for us and for him. I think he's a cracking player who was just starting to find his feet in this league.

"Anyone who watches us play regularly will know that Barry has been our outstanding player during the last couple of months."

Souness absolved Speed of any blame for the injury by describing it as an innocuous challenge.

But that's of little consolation to the Rovers camp who must now go into the second half of the season without one of their most influential players.

"It was a fairly innocuous challenge," said Souness. "Barry was actually the one making the challenge so that just shows you the pace of our game because if you get it wrong, you are risking everything."

Souness is now likely to approach the board about the prospect of being given the funds necessary to patch-up his thread-bare squad during the January transfer window.

With Ferguson and Thompson ruled out for the season and Reid currently struggling with a hamstring injury, the Rovers boss wants a couple of new faces to help bolster Rovers' survival fight.

In the meantime, Babbel has spoken of his delight in helping to keep a clean sheet against Alan Shearer.

"I worked hard to make sure he didn't score this time," said Babbel.