GRAEME Souness today paid a glowing tribute to on-loan defender Vratislav Gresko after the Slovakian international has helped to lead Rovers to the brink of the Premiership's top six.

Gresko's steadying influence at the back since his arrival from Italian club Parma has coincided with Rovers picking up six wins from their last seven outings - a sequence of results which has also featured five clean sheets.

Now Manchester United lie in wait on Saturday as Rovers close in on a place in next season's UEFA Cup.

But Souness is confident Gresko is more than equipped to cope with the threat of England captain David Beckham and his Old Trafford team-mates.

"I don't think it's a coincidence that we've tightened up defensively since he came into the team," said Souness.

"I thought he was outstanding against Charlton on Saturday. This is a very different type of football to what he's used to.

"But he's a good defender and we saw that within the first few days of working with him.

"I also think we haven't quite seen the best of him going forward as yet.

"We got a taste of it at the weekend when he whipped over a couple of good crosses in the first half.

"But make no mistake he's a good player and I think Duffer has benefited from playing in front of him.

"I'm not saying Damien would want to do less but I think it has lessened the work he has to do in running back because he knows that the man behind him is very solid."

Rovers' new-found defensive resolve is sure to be put to the test at the weekend against a United side who have scored 10 goals in their last two outings.

But, despite the impressive nature of their 6-2 demolition of Newcastle on Saturday, Souness insists a trip to Old Trafford holds no fears for his side.

"United were very, very special on Saturday. Everything they hit seemed to go in," said the Rovers boss.

"But they've got a very hard game between now and when they play us so anything could happen.

"We've got a few days training between now and then so we'll assess it later in the week."

In the meantime, Souness plans to ban all talk of Europe at Brockhall as Rovers focus on their final push for glory.

"The important thing is we keep our concentration in the remaining five games and try and collect as many points as we can," said Souness.

"Everton and Liverpool both won again at the weekend so the gap is still the same but we're not even thinking about that.

"If we were to qualify for Europe then that would be wonderful but we are not thinking about that right now."