Souness warning to Rovers players

Despite Saturday's victory over Charlton, Souness has no intention of resting on his laurels as he gears up for the challenge of three games in the space of a week.

And, with big cup ties against Sheffield Wednesday and Barnsley looming large on the horizon, he's desperate to get some vital Premiership points on the board now in order to avoid any potential anxiety in the New Year. He said: "The holiday period is a very crucial time for us and if we do well over this period then we could be sitting in a very comfortable position in the league and playing in the semi-finals of a cup.

"But it could just as easily go the other way, we could do badly over the next couple of weeks, and then when the semi finals come along we might have to ask ourselves if that's our priority. So it's an important time for us in many respects but nothing is decided over Christmas."

Rovers ended a run of three straight defeats thanks to a 2-0 victory at The Valley over the weekend.

And Souness hopes that result will have boosted his side's confidence as they embark on such a hectic schedule.

"Confidence is a big part of football and you don't want your players feeling sorry for themselves," said Souness. "We've got players in our side who haven't played at this level before and the confidence aspect has to be taken into account.

"But as far as I'm concerned, they've not shown to date that they have any doubts about themselves and that's great for me.

"As long as our young players keep wanting to learn then they will only get better.

"At the moment, I'm just impressing upon the players that they need to continue playing the way they have over the last few weeks.

"We perhaps need to eliminate one or two individual errors which have cost us recently and we need to take more of our chances.

"But, generally speaking, I don't think there has been too much wrong with the way we've been playing."

One player certainly not low on confidence at the moment is flying winger Keith Gillespie who has been in sensational form for Rovers so far this season.

The former Manchester United star caught the eye once again with two 'assists' in the 2-0 win at Charlton.

But, though Souness has been delighted by his form over the last six months, he has urged the 26-year-old to improve his goal-scoring ratio.

"We could do with more goals from both our wide men," said the Rovers chief. "Damien Duff gets himself into very good positions where he knows he should do better and if Keith was a bit more alive to certain things then he could get more goals for us, too.

"But they're keen to learn and that's something we can help them improve on. At the end of the day, wide players are a rarity these days and punters like to watch people who can dribble with a ball and take people on.

"We are fortunate in the fact we've got two people in the team who can do that and when they're on song, they're very good to watch."

"But it's not just about being a forward-thinking player, they've got to do their bit coming back by tucking in and playing like a midfield player when we haven't got the ball."

Gillespie also accepts that he needs to take more responsibility in front of goal.

"We can't just rely on our strikers to score goals so if the likes of myself, Damien Duff, Garry Flitcroft and Tugay can all weigh in with a few more then that's better for the team," said Gillespie. "But in saying that, it's more easily said than done."

Meanwhile, Souness was relishing the chance to settle a score at Ewood today.

The Rovers boss felt Sunderland were lucky to beat his side 1-0 at the Stadium of Light earlier in the season and he would love to avenge that defeat.

"It's another big game and our supporters will want to enjoy the festive spirit by seeing us win a game," said Souness.

"We felt we should have got something up at Sunderland so this is a chance for us to get a bit of revenge on them but it's going to be another difficult test." IT'S MAKE OR BREAK! Souness warns his players to be on their guard ROVERS: From back page

"We are fortunate in the fact we've got two people in the team who can do that and when they're on song, they're very good to watch.

"But it's not just about being a forward-thinking player, they've got to do their bit coming back by tucking in and playing like a midfield player when we haven't got the ball."

Gillespie also accepts that he needs to take more responsibility in front of goal.

"We can't just rely on our strikers to score goals so if the likes of myself, Damien Duff, Garry Flitcroft and Tugay can all weigh in with a few more then that's better for the team," said Gillespie. "But in saying that, it's more easily said than done."

Meanwhile, Rovers have played down reports that Tugay wants to leave for Newcastle United.

Quotes attributed to the Turkish international first surfaced at the weekend, saying he wanted to move, but chief executive John Williams said: "I know absolutely nothing about this in regard to what remarks were said and who they were said to.

"As far as I am concered, he is under contract and is very happy here."

ROVERS defender Jeff Kenna has joined Birmingham on a month's loan.

Meanwhile, Souness was relishing the chance to settle a score at Ewood today.

The Rovers boss felt Sunderland were lucky to beat his side 1-0 at the Stadium of Light earlier in the season and he would love to avenge that defeat.

"It's another big game and our supporters will want to enjoy the festive spirit by seeing us win a game," said Souness.

"We felt we should have got something up at Sunderland so this is a chance for us to get a bit of revenge on them but it's going to be another difficult test."