JACK Walker can take Blackburn Rovers back to the summit of English football, claims Ewood boss Tony Parkes (pictured).

But he also warns fans they would need patience as it would take time to turn round the situation which had developed since the title success of 1995.

Parkes, facing nearly 400 members and guests of the Supporters' Association along with assistant Terry Darracott and players Lee Carsley and Simon Grayson, answered questions frankly.

He explained why he sold Jason Wilcox, stressed that transfer-seeking David Dunn needed to show a little patience and said the promotion play-offs were still within reach.

But it was the decline of the club which clearly concerned most fans, one asking if Rovers would ever again be able to compete with the likes of Manchester United.

"I would think so while Jack's here," said Parkes, who admitted Rovers had now fallen well behind the top clubs.

"But I would think it is going to take a long time. It's not going to happen in the next couple of years but hopefully we can get there.

"We need to get back into the Premiership as soon as possible. That is the hope of everybody at the club and it is in our hands to do it this year.

"People will say we belong in the Premiership but there's a lot of hard work to be done and probably a few faces to change before that happens.

"The play-offs are achievable with 45 points left. We'll probably need 30 which is a tall order but not out of reach and we'll be battling right to the end."

Parkes said it was a possibility that he might spend before the transfer deadline but made no promises.

He also reacted to criticism that players who left Ewood had gone on to better themselves, while those who came in seemed to have deteriorated.

Of those who had been sold, he said he could only really comment on Jason Wilcox as he had made that decision.

"It's all about the individual thoughts of each manager," he said.

"My opinion is that Damien Duff is a better player than Jason Wilcox, who was also 28.

"Jason thought he was good enough to play first team football, which he is. So when Leeds came in he had to go."

As for Dunn, Parkes said the club wanted to develop young players. He felt the midfielder had received some bad advice in asking for a transfer.

"When I took over the first time we had a young Jason Wilcox, Craig Skinner, Lennie Johnrose and David May," he said. "Blackburn have always brought young players through.

"Martin Taylor and Damien Johnson are now probably in a similar position to David. He loves the club and has to be patient like some international players have to be patient."

On Hendry, set to join Coventry, Parkes explained: "His name has been pushed but we have a lot of centre halves and we can't just keep collecting players. "Colin is 34 and I think we must have had the best years of him. We hope he is successful when he gets a club."

Asked about recent signing Alan Miller, Parkes revealed that as well as releasing Alan Fettis at the end of the season, the club were also going to allow Anthony Williams to go.

Parkes is hoping to have Damien Duff available again tomorrow and, if the winger is fit, you would expect him to return.

Elsewhere, it's a question of trying to find the right blend up front as the manager remains rightly concerned about the lack of goals from his strikers.

Whichever pairing he tries, none of them have been too successful in recent weeks.

In fact, Carsley remains Rovers' top scorer - thanks largely to taking penalties - and he has been out of action since the end of January through injury.

Success at Stockport last Saturday ended a run of four League games without a win and, with two successive home matches, Rovers have a chance to close in on the play-off positions. Keeper Alan Miller, who made his first Rovers appearance in the reserves on Tuesday, will have to settle for a place on the bench against his last club - providing Alan Kelly reports injury free from the Republic of Ireland game.

If there are no problems from the midweek internationals, Rovers are expected to choose from: Kelly, Grayson, Dailly, Broomes, Harkness, Gillespie, McAteer, Flitcroft, Davidson, Ward, Jansen, Duff, Blake, Johnson, Dunn, Peacock, Ostenstad, Miller.

West Brom have added Trinidad and Tobago midfielder Clint Marcelle to the squad on a free transfer from Barnsley.

His availability depends on international clearance.

Albion are set to choose from: Adamson, Carbon, Raven, Sigurdsson, Chambers, Flynn, Fredgaard, Sneekes, Hall, Evans, Hughes, Van Blerk, Burgess, Townsend, Quinn, Marcelle, Morris.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.