DAVID Dunn has been ruled out of tomorrow's final away trip of the season at Crystal Palace.

The young midfielder impressed as a second half substitute against Charlton on Monday, earning a penalty.

But his exertions resulted in a hamstring strain and he has not been able to train all week.

That means Lee Carsley and Per Frandsen are likely to retain their central midfield pairing.

Frandsen has been linked with a return to Bolton Wanderers only months after his £1.8m move from the Reebok in September last year.

But Bolton are in the process of cutting their wage bill and it is likely the Dane would have to be prepared to take a very large pay drop if he went back -- so a return has to be in doubt.

And the report was dismissed out of hand as pure speculation by Bolton boss Sam Allardyce.

Rovers manager Graeme Souness said: "Per will be given another chance to play tomorrow.

"I thought he did all right against Charlton in the second half."

Souness was tempted to travel to Scandinavia this week to run the rule over potential transfer targets wher chief scout John Seasman has been at three recent games.

Instead he watched Middlesbrough reserves against Manchester United reserves at the Riverside, having watched United's second string in action just the previous week when Jonathan Greening caught the eye.

The manager will have to check on the fitness of Damien Duff and Jason McAteer, who both pulled out of the Republic of Ireland squad on Wednesday against Greece, before deciding on his midfield line-up. McAteer was suffering from bruising to his calf and winger Duff was recovering from a viral infection.

Gary Hamilton has been drafted into the squad after a fine performance for the reserves this week, as cover for Ben Burgess, who has an ankle injury.

Aussie keeper John Filan also makes a welcome return to contention for a place on the bench following his lengthy lay-off after arm surgery, as Alan Miller is suffering an arm strain.

Palace still need a point to be sure of Division One survival, with Walsall five points behind but with an inferior goal difference.

But Souness does not think that will affect their approach to the game.

He said: "Their attitude will be 'Ah! Blackburn have nothing to play for. Let's get out there and play aggressively against them and dictate the game.'

"If you need a point, it's a very difficult game to play to go out and set your stall out for one.

"We just have to do a professional job and we will do.

"We have to be ready to win our games for the 50, 250 or 500 supporters who spend their money to come and watch us win."

Rovers will be without Callum Davidson and Nathan Blake, who have both been ruled out for the final two games.

Souness is likely to choose from: Kelly, Dailly, Short, Harkness, McAteer, Frandsen, Carsley, Duff, Johnson, Jansen, Ward, Ostenstad, Gillespie, Burgess, Hamilton, Flitcroft, Miller, Filan.

Souness has admired the work of Palace boss Steve Coppell in difficult financial circumstances this season.

But the £10.6 million sale of the club is expected to be completed before tomorrow's game. Administrators have been keen to push through the takeover by businessman Jerry Lim in order to reassure Palace fans that it will not be their last ever game at Selhurst Park.

Souness added: "Crystal Palace are a club who have had problems but Steve Coppell has worked hard to keep those problems off the pitch and he deserves a lot of credit for that.

"But I'm not really too interested in what they do.

"It's what we do that counts and I'm only concerned with us.

"We did not show enough imagination or aggression against Charlton in the first half on Monday.

"We were better in the second half but that's something we have to iron out.

"I understand you cannot play well for the whole 90 minutes but we have to be more consistent in our performance."

Palace will choose from: Greg, Smith, Linighan, Austin, Cole, Carlisle, Mullins, Foster, McKenzie, Thomson, Morrison, Forssell, Rizzo, Woozley, Kendal, Hunt.

Rovers are trying to finalise details of their pre-season tour programme. It is likely to feature a series of games in England, a week's trip to Germany, and a return for England for more friendlies.