CRAILSHEIM coach Werner Rank today vowed his German part-timers will give Rovers a run for their money as the men from Ewood prepare to embark on the second leg of their pre-season tour tonight.

After Monday night's 12-0 mauling of Austrian amateurs Abtenau, Rank and his Crailsheim team could be forgiven for running scared as Graeme Souness's multi-million pound squad prepare to roll into this quiet football backwater.

But the former Dynamo Dresden striker is not the type who holds much store by reputation.

And, what is more, he's determined to prove that by pulling off a shock against the Premiership new-boys -- even though he admits he knows precious little about either Souness or any of his playing staff.

"If you want me to be honest, then I've got to say I've never heard of Graeme Souness or most of his players," said Rank.

"The only Blackburn player I really know of is Mark Hughes because of his time with Bayern and I may even have played against him at that point in his career.

"So I must admit this game for me, personally, is not particularly special because I played in the Bundesliga for a long time so it's nothing new to me to be playing a big team like Blackburn.

"But that said, it would still be a major achievement for us to even score in this game, never mind win it.

"My plan is to play the first 60 minutes with as strong a side as possible during which time I feel Blackburn won't score more than two more goals than us.

"My first 13 or 14 players are all strong and I think they will make very tough opponents."

After the embarrassing ease with which they overcame Abtenau, Rovers are certainly in need of a stiffer challenge in the humble surroundings of the Schoneburg Stadion.

And on paper, at least, TSV Crailsheim look better equipped to bridge the quality gap than their Austrian counterparts.

Last season, they romped to the Landesliga title -- the equivalent of the German sixth division -- by a whopping 10 points from their nearest rivals.

And in people like Rank, fellow striker Joseph Famechey and Peter Kostunkov, they also boast players with a certain amount of pedigree.

Kostunkov -- a veteran playmaker -- has played for the Bulgarian national team on two occasions, appearing alongside the likes of Hristo Stoichkov, while Famechey is the current Ghanaian Under 23 skipper.

Not surprisingly, therefore, the whole squad is relishing the prospect of pitting their wits against Souness's promotion heroes.

"Everyone is very excited at the thought of playing Blackburn," said midfielder Mirko Waraszik.

"It's always a challenge to play against a big club, whether they come from Germany or wherever.

"But we've just got to make sure we don't lose by a big margin because that would not do much for our confidence."

One thing Crailsheim are confident about, however, is the fact that Rovers' visit will pull in the punters.

TSV tend to attract crowds of around 500 for a league game but they're anticipating four times that number tonight for what must surely rank as one of the biggest games in the club's history.

"It's a big honour for Crailsheim that Blackburn are coming here to play us and I just hope the people of the town appreciate that," said club official Klaus Jurgen Mummler.

"Even the very smallest kids who come and play sport here know who Blackburn are so it's created great interest.

"And, if the game attracts a crowd of more than 2,000, then that would be a dream for us."

Rovers, meanwhile, took time out from their busy training schedule to squeeze in a spot of tobogganing earlier this week.

Manager Graeme Souness whisked his squad off to one of the mountains providing a stunning backdrop to Monday night's game with Abtenau.

And good fun was said to have been had by all as the whole squad tested out one of the largest dry toboggan runs in Europe.