SEVERAL Rovers players must be currently holding a personal 'Goal of the Season' competition.

Tugay's sublime strike at Southampton was equalled by David Dunn's superb equalizer for the under 21's on Friday night.

The way he ghosted past five Dutch players was reminiscent of Ricky Villa's famous Cup Final goal for Spurs.

Entertaining stuff from the youngsters gave way to fairly turgid fare from the seniors the following day.

Reduced at this late stage togiving a debut to vastly over-rated, right footed, Trevor Sinclair in England's problem left wing position, Sven could hardly have missed Dunny's second half heroics.

Barring injury, or a dramatic loss of form, the World Cup is starting to look like a distinct possibility for our local hero.

However, for me the weekend's action was overshadowed by the ever increasing threat of some form of players' strike.

This we are told is the possible outcome following the undignified spectacle of the Premier League and PFA sticking their snouts in the trough, trying to extract every last penny from one last big TV contract.

Both sides obviously feel they have a legitimate beef.

My own view is that in an ideal world the PFA should be funded by a deduction of, say 2% from players' wages.

The majority of TV money already by-passes the clubs and goes straight in to players' pockets.

Why should Beckham or indeed any Premiership player only have to pay an annual subscription of £75, the same as their colleague at Torquay?

The rights and wrongs aside, my main worry is that both sides seem to be treating the potential consequences of strike action far too lightly.

This at a time when Des Lynam has been barged out of a prime time TV slot by Cilla Black due to poor viewing figures.

The game could be teetering on the brink of financial oblivion.

The TV companies couldn't have been more vocal recently in indicating they feel they've vastly overpaid for the last round of TV rights.

The slightest breach of contract will bring them stampeding down to renegotiate the contracts, barely able to believe their luck.

Cue many Clubs with multi-million pound players on five year contracts becoming technically insolvent overnight. Would the banks be as benevolent as Uncle Jack?

On a happier note the welcome return to club action on Saturday against Liverpool promises a high scoring epic every bit as thrilling as the Manchester United game.

Will the real Blackburn Rovers please stand up? SkySports couldn't survive another game as bad as the Leicester one.

I'm sure we'll get a good result if we play like we've done nearly all season, and am equally sure we won't if we play like we did against Leicester and Southampton.

Apart from speculating whether any of the strikers will finally find the net, my other early pre-match thoughts concern the injuries to Duff and Flitcroft.

If Duffer is fit, he could prove a pivotal figure. If Flitty is not fit, despite touting David Dunn for England's left wing, I would love to see him get a run out withTugay in his favoured central midfield position.

Whereas Flitcroft and Tugay have been very good, Dunn and Tugay might just be exceptional. You never know until you try. Whatever the respective line ups, I'm sure the game will not be dull!