BLACKBURN defender Martin Taylor today set his sights on snuffing out Michael Owen as Rovers head for Anfield attempting to claim another major Premiership scalp.

Taylor has already boosted his growing reputation with a towering performance against Manchester United ace Ruud Van Nistelrooy in the last few days.

And now the 22-year-old is aiming to put in a similar display against Liverpool dangerman Owen as he attempts to catch the eye of England manager Sven Goran Eriksson.

"I think we can go into the game feeling a lot more confident after what happened on Sunday," said Taylor, who was recently tipped for international honours by his manager, Graeme Souness.

"Obviously, Liverpool at Anfield is a very hard game because we are going to be up against top quality players again.

"But in the Premier League, you come up against them every week so there's no rest.

"Liverpool will provide us with a different test because they play a faster game as we saw at Ewood at the start of the season.

"But there's no reason why we can't give them a hard game, as well.

"All the lads were very pleased in the changing rooms on Sunday because those three points were very important for us, particularly at this stage in the season, and to beat Manchester United should do wonders for our confidence.

"We haven't been keeping enough clean sheets recently and, as a defender, that's the first thing you set out to do.

"So to keep a clean sheet against a team like United was great for me, personally, and for the rest of the back four as well."

Eriksson was at Ewood on Sunday to see Rovers keep their sixth clean sheet of the season against a United side who had won their previous eight games.

And he can't have failed to notice Taylor's awesome contribution on the day as Van Nistelrooy and Co drew a rare blank in front of goal.

The England boss will, therefore, watch Taylor's battle with Owen with added interest this afternoon.

But, with Rovers currently sitting pretty in ninth position following Sunday's win, the former Academy starlet and his defensive colleagues can approach the game with added confidence.

"The boss said last week if we were to get two draws against the fancied sides then that's not a bad return," said Taylor's defensive partner, Craig Short.

"But we've already surpassed that by beating United and there's no reason why we can't do something similar against Liverpool.

"We did well against them last season. I know we conceded four goals but we played very well in scoring three.

"Winning on Sunday means there won't be quite as much pressure on us because it's put a bit of space between us and the sides at the bottom.

"But we are also aware that it was at this stage last season that we got sucked into trouble at the bottom of the table so that's why it's important to get something out of today's game so we are not having to look over our shoulders quite so much."

David Dunn was expected to miss today's game after suffering a calf strain against United on Sunday.

But Souness has David Thompson back following a one-match ban.