Division One: Wolverhampton Wanderers v Blackburn Rovers - match preview

SHARPSHOOTER Egil Ostenstad aims to fire the bullets which will gun down Wolves as Rovers prepare to enter the last chance saloon at Molineux tomorrow.

With Rovers' play-off chances hanging by a thread, nothing less than a victory in the Black Country will do.

But the arrival of old mentor Graeme Souness has given Ostenstad a new lease of life.

And the former Southampton ace is keen on marking his return to the first team with a second consecutive goal which could help keep Rovers' slim promotion hopes alive.

"It's probably our last chance to get into the play-offs," said Ostenstad.

"And even if we win it's still going to be very difficult because we've got to rely on at least one of the other teams to slip up really badly.

"All we can do from here is try the best we can, which means winning all of our remaining games if we are to have a chance.

"And, obviously, if I can score some goals which will help us do that, then even better."

The Norwegian international looked out of sorts and out of favour prior to Souness's arrival at Ewood last month.

But his old manager at the Dell quickly restored him to the starting line-up and Ostenstad has since responded, scoring his first goal since the 1-1 draw against Wolves in January during last weekend's 5-0 rout of Sheffield United. "It's just great to be back playing again.

"I've been out for a while and, like everybody else, I just want to be playing in the side.

"It has been frustrating over the last couple of months but there's a lot of good players at Blackburn and nobody has a divine right to a place.

"You do play better, though, if you feel like the man in charge believes in you -- that will help every player.

"And the fact Graeme has come in hasn't done my chances at Blackburn any harm because I've played under him before.

"But I don't expect to be treated any differently.

"I'll still have to play well to keep my place in the team.

"And I want to score in every game because, unless I do, I'm never happy."

Wolves didn't particularly impress Ostenstad during that Ewood encounter three months ago.

But he believes Rovers will face a totally different proposition tomorrow as both sides press for a play-off place.

"We definitely should have beaten them when we played them at home.

"I think they only had one shot on target in the first half whereas we hit the woodwork three times.

"But once they went down to 10 men we didn't press home the advantage and we missed a penalty as well.

"They seem to have done quite well since then, though, and they are above us in the table.

"So we are expecting a very tough game."

Wolves, meanwhile, are keen to bounce back from last weekend's stormy Midlands derby defeat at the hands of Birmingham.

And former England midfielder, Andy Sinton, believes nothing less than a win will do.

"We've just got to say to ourselves we have got to get at Blackburn and attack them.

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