BLACKBURN boss Graeme Souness today told his misfiring players 'it's time to stand up and be counted' as Rovers attempt to get their season back on track at Leeds tomorrow.

Two desperately disappointing defeats at the hands of Genclerbirligi and Fulham in the last 10 days have undermined the club's start to the season.

And that has prompted Souness to demand a show of character at Elland Road as Rovers look to inflict more misery on Leeds boss Peter Reid.

"The players have got to stand up and be counted," said Souness.

"I've had experience of the bad times in football and that's when you want your main men to show what they are all about.

"If they are big players then now is the time to show it.

"This a big game for us. Leeds have made a poor start to the season so they'll be up for it but we've got to get something from the game.

"We feel as though we should have more points on the board than we do but it's alright talking about it, we've got to go out and get them."

Souness was so disappointed by Sunday's 2-0 defeat against Fulham that he called the players in for a meeting earlier this week in which he got several issues off his chest.

Then the squad went on a team building session to Manchester later in the week in an attempt to bring the players closer to together.

Now Souness hopes that new sense of unity will be reflected on the pitch as he tries to address the problems which have dogged his side in the opening weeks of the new season.

"I won't know if it's worked until tomorrow," said Souness.

"If you look at what's been costing us in games then it's individual errors and that's something we need to eliminate.

"But when we play our football, it's been everything I said it would be.

"We made a lot of changes in the summer but I believe we've signed some good players and I still believe we are better equipped now than we were at this point last season.

"Maybe it's a case of people needing more time to gel together but I'm not a big one for saying it takes people six months to adjust.

"Good players adapt quickly and I believe we've got some good players."

Lorenzo Amoruso should be fit to continue at the heart of Rovers' defence, despite missing some training this week with a knee injury.

Steven Reid also returns after completing a three game ban but Markus Babbel is a definite non-starter.

Rovers' squad is likely to be: Friedel, Taylor, Gresko, Amoruso, Johansson, Flitcroft, Tugay, Ferguson, Emerton, Thompson, Cole, Jansen, Yorke, Reid, Grabbi, Gallagher, Baggio, Kelly.

Meanwhile, Souness has again refuted claims linking him with the vacant manager's position at Tottenham Hotspur.

Several sources in the national media claim that Souness is now the leading candidate to succeed Glenn Hoddle at White Hart Lane.

But the Rovers chief insists he has no interest in heading south because he already has one of the top jobs in the Premiership at Blackburn.

"I've had no contact whatsoever with Tottenham," said Souness."I know nothing about the Tottenham job. I can only repeat that I've got a great job here and ther are very few jobs in this country that are better thanthe oneI've got."