BLACKBURN boss Graeme Souness has turned to former Aston Villa ace Savo Milosevic as the man to solve his side's striking problems.

Ewood chief Souness has contacted Milosevic's representatives about a possible move to Rovers -- initially on loan -- after learning that the player has become unsettled at struggling Italian club Parma.

But the prospect of a deal is currently hanging by a thread after the Serie A club sacked manager Daniel Passarella earlier this week.

"We initially tried to take Savo on loan with an option to buy at the end of the season and we got pretty close to it at one point," said Souness.

"But Parma then changed their coach earlier this week and the new guy now wants the weekend to think things through.

"So we've not given up on it and if we could get him to Ewood then I think he could be a great partner for either Matt or Ciccio."

Milosevic's agent, Zoran Vekic, has confirmed he is aware of Rovers' interest and a return to England may appeal to the player following a spell in the Premiership with Villa in the 1990s.

"That has been talked about but there is nothing official at this stage," said Vekic.

The 28-year-old Yugoslav arrived at Parma for a whopping £15 million last summer after finishing Euro 2000 as the tournament's joint-top scorer.

But, after bagging eight goals in 21 games during his debut season, his appearances have been far more sporadic this term, having found the net just once in his eight games so far.

Significantly, new boss Pietro Carmignani left him out of Wednesday night's 1-0 defeat at Torino -- Parma's sixth on the bounce.

But he may not be ready to sanction a loan move to Ewood just yet as he takes time to assess the strengths and weaknesses of his squad.

Milosevic would certainly seem to fit the criteria Souness is looking for, however.

When he first exploded onto the scene with Partizan Belgrade, he scored over 60 goals in two hugely successful seasons.

That then earned him a move to Villa where he continued to make some vital contributions, the highlight being a goal in their 3-0 win over Leeds United in the 1996 Worthington Cup final.

But his career with the Midlands club then turned sour when he spat at his own supporters during a game against Rovers.

John Gregory subsequently sold him to Spanish side Real Zaragoza but his scoring feats at Euro 2000 then earned him a big money move to Italy.

However, he currently finds himself behind former Rovers target Patrick Mboma and Marco Di Vaio in the Parma pecking order.

And the opportunity of regular first team football at Ewood may well appear attractive.

Souness is in urgent need of extra fire-power with leading scorer Matt Jansen currently out injured after damaging ankle ligaments.

That means he goes into tomorrow's clash with Charlton at the Valley with just three recognised strikers to choose from in Ciccio Grabbi, Egil Ostenstad and Mark Hughes who boast one league goal between them this term.

Defender Stig Bjornebye is also battling to be back from a calf strain as Rovers go in search of only their second away win of the season.

Rovers are expected to choose from: Friedel, Curtis, Neill, Short, Berg, Flitcroft, Dunn, Tugay, Duff, Gillespie, Hughes, Grabbi, Ostenstad, Johansson, Mahon, Kelly.