GRAEME Souness today revealed Hakan Sukur could be ready to make his Rovers debut against Manchester City in a fortnight's time.

The Turkish World Cup star has been given the green light to step up his training programme as he recovers from a broken leg and a double hernia operation.

And if things go to plan over the next seven days, then he could be in line for a comeback when City visit Ewood two weeks' tomorrow.

"He's been given the go-ahead to step up his training so we'll see how he goes," said Souness.

"If things go well then he could be in the frame for Manchester City.

"He's been doing some running and I imagine he'll be starting to kick a ball again at some point early next week.

"But he's been working his socks off and he's really impressed everyone with the amount of work he has put in."

Sukur arrived with a big reputation when Rovers snapped him up from Italian side Parma just before Christmas.

But any hopes of him making his debut over the festive period were then scuppered when he broke his leg.

However, his desire to get back to full fitness as quickly as possible has impressed everyone at Brockhall, no-one more so than Craig Short who recently spent time training with the 31-year-old as he battled back from his own injury problems.

"I was doing some sit-ups with him in the gym the other day and I normally do a set of a hundred but I looked at him and he never stopped so I said 'how many did you?' and he said 'five hundred,' straight off," said Short.

"He's got a reputation as a really good athlete. The manager says he's the best runner he has ever seen, and he's training really, really hard.

"He's also very strong. I know Dunny challenged him the other day and just bounced off him.

"So hopefully he might give us a different option when he's fit.

"It must be disappointing for him given what's happened and it's monotonous trying to get fit again after an injury like that.

"But he's stuck at it, he comes in every day with a smile on his face and he's fitting in really well."

Souness certainly has high hopes for Sukur and believes he will give the team a whole new dimension during the last 10 games of the season.

"People have got to remember we've signed a guy who's a superstar. He's the David Beckham of Turkish football," added Souness.

"I know he went to the World Cup and got criticised but he hadn't been playing regularly so it's no surprise that he didn't get the goals everyone expected.

"When he joined us he was determined to prove those people wrong but then he got injured again just as he was ready to go.

"So he's been through a lot over the last 12 months but he's now on the mend and I know he will be a real player for us."