BLACKBURN boss Graeme Souness is likely to receive a sharp rebuff from Sunderland counterpart Peter Reid if he tries to line up Michael Gray as a summer recruit.

The Rovers chief is keen to strengthen the left side of his defence and was today linked with a possible move for the Black Cats full-back.

Souness has already expressed an interest in unsettled Everton man Michael Ball, but Everton boss Walter Smith is keen to keep Ball with the pair set for further contracts talks.

Gray has been touted as a possible alternative.

However, there appears no way that Reid could be tempted to part company with Gray, even for a fee of around £5 million.

Gray is team captain at the Stadium of Light, having come through the ranks to chalk up almost 300 League appearances for his hometown club and is due a testimonial game next year.

He has been a key part of the Sunderland side which has recorded top-seven finishes in their first two seasons back in the top-flight and forced his way into the England set-up under Kevin Keegan.

The 26-year-old is also seen by Reid as a main factor in fostering team spirit and, despite having promising Northern Ireland under-21 left back George McCartney at the club, Gray would appear to be one of the last players the Sunderland chief would allow to leave.

Rovers have so far added just Italian striker Corrado Grabbi and Scottish youngster Gordon Greer to the squad that clinched promotion in May.

However, they are still hopeful of gaining a work permit to complete a move for Rangers' Turkish midfielder Tugay Kerimoglu and assistant boss Tony Parkes underlined the desire to bring in new faces.

Parkes said: "We need to strengthen the squad, like everybody else in the Premiership.

"The Nationwide is different from the Premiership and you need a big squad and a strong squad as quickly as possible. That's not always possible but we are working away."

Rovers' place back in the big-time was brought sharply into focus with the release of the Premiership fixtures yesterday.

Parkes admitted that the visit of champions Manchester United to Ewood Park for Blackburn's first home game is a mouth-watering prospect.

He said: "It does put in perspective a little bit, certainly when you look at the Premiership fixtures compared with the Nationwide.

"There's a vast difference and it's quite an exciting fixture list, certainly with Manchester United being the first home game back in the Premiership. There are always certain fixtures and times that you look at and the first home game is one of them.

"It must help season-ticket sales and seeing Manchester United as the first home game must excite supporters.

"People thinking 'shall we go down and shall we buy a season-ticket', seeing these fixtures will bring it home how important and exciting a season it is."

Before that though, Rovers kick-off at Derby County where they won 5-2 in an FA Cup replay last season.

And Parkes sees the trip to Pride Park as a welcome start as Souness's men look to make their mark after two years out of the top-flight.

He added: "If there was a good start to the season away from home, without being unkind to Derby County, this would be one.

"It's not a Manchester United or a Liverpool.

"You can see them being in the bottom half so it's a nice opener, if there is such a thing in the Premiership.

"I'm sure it will be in the back of the players' minds that they went there and won in the Cup and the first game is important because you need to get points on the board quickly."