BLACKBURN boss Graeme Souness is ready to send an SOS to on-loan defender Andy Todd as he attempts to solve his deepening defensive crisis.

Rovers are down to the bare bones at the back after Markus Babbel joined Craig Short on the sidelines at the weekend.

That means Todd will now be recalled from his loan spell with Burnley as Souness attempts to plug the gaps in his decimated defence.

"We are going to recall Andy from his loan spell," said Souness.

"I think he plays his last game this weekend then he will be coming back to us because we are short on numbers.

"Markus is now facing a spell on the sidelines, Shorty's still some way off being ready, and Lucas Neill still has two games to serve of a suspension. It's been a traumatic few days for us."

Todd will play for the Clarets at Watford tonight and then complete his one-month stay against Walsall on Saturday before heading back to Ewood where he will compete with Martin Taylor for the chance to partner Lorenzo Amoruso.

It's an unexpected opportunity for the former Bolton defender whose days at Rovers appeared to be numbered when the club accepted his transfer request in the summer.

However, Souness's hand has been forced following the crushing blow of losing Babbel.

The on-loan Liverpool star now faces a six week lay-off after tearing a thigh muscle in Sunday's game against Fulham.

He will return to Germany this week to consult a specialist but it could be the middle of November before he's fit to return.

The news on Short is slightly better. Providing his knee injury continues to respond to treatment, he may be back in contention for a first team place by the start of next month.

Short's return can't come soon enough as Rovers continue to leak soft goals at an alarming rate.

More poor defending cost them dearly at the weekend as Fulham left Ewood with all three points following a 2-0 win.

That was Rovers' third straight home defeat in the Premiership - their worst sequence since December 2001 when they lost three on the bounce to Middlesbrough, Leeds and Sunderland.

But Souness believes recent results don't tell the full story.

"If you analyse the games individually I know the results look terrible on paper but we shouldn't have lost all three games.

"We shouldn't have lost against Manchester City. Their third goal was a fluke and Brad would normally have saved the first one.

"Then against Liverpool we found ourselves down to 10-men very early on and that ended up costing us dearly.

"As for Sunday, we were guilty of sloppy defending and you can't afford to give away an early goal like that.

"That first goal was an absolute tragedy. They must have felt all their Christmases and New Years had come at once.

"But we can't afford to dwell on it. We've got to pick ourselves up from this and carry on."

Meanwhile, Souness continues to be linked with the vacant manager's job at his old club Tottenham Hotspur.

Spurs chairman David Levy was due to canvass opinion off his fellow directors at a meeting today as he looks for a successor to Glenn Hoddle.

And some sources have suggested that Souness has now jumped above Martin O'Neill and Alan Curbishley to the top of the list.

But Souness has already publicly stated that he is happy at Rovers and a move to White Hart Lane does not appeal to him.

Nevertheless, former Spurs and England star, Chris Waddle, believes the Blackburn boss would be the perfect replacement for Hoddle.

"David Pleat is the prime candidate to take over and he will be in pole position if he strings together a few results," said Waddle.

"But for me there's only one choice - Blackburn's Graeme Souness.

"His teams produce good football, he has the confidence to handle big players and a big club - and he talks sense, too.

"However, when you look at the track record of some directors, that last bit might count against Souness."