Peter White reports from Blackburn Rovers' tour of Scandinavia

BRIAN Kidd gave both his senior goalkeepers a run out in last night's 1-1 draw with IFK Gothenburg in Sweden, possibly preparing for the fact that Tim Flowers could soon be leaving Blackburn Rovers.

There seems to be an inevitability that an offer will come from Leicester City, sooner rather than later and perhaps in the region of £1.5 million, for the former England keeper who was transfer listed at his own request after losing the number one spot at Ewood.

In that case, Rovers must have the protection of two fit and sharp senior men to ensure the goalkeeping position is in safe hands.

But the man in possession of the number one jersey, John Filan, has no doubts the manager will make sure competition to hold on to it will remain as fierce as ever.

Kidd has made his feelings known to Jack Walker and the board about all his squad, as well as any players he might still be interested in bringing to the club.

And, if Flowers does indeed go, I understand the club have already identified a potential target.

For the fact has to be faced that there is also a doubt about Alan Fettis's long-term Ewood future as he is another man who has stated he needs first team football not least to safeguard his international career.

While he deals with playing matters in Scandinavia, the Rovers boss will leave chief executive John Williams and secretary Tom Finn to deal with any transfer details. But it may well be significant that Filan played for the first hour, with Fettis taking over for the final 30 minutes - Kidd presumably wanting both men to be in shape as soon as possible.

A likelier scenario in normal circumstances would have been for Filan to play a couple of full matches, with Fettis perhaps taking the third against the lesser opposition of Fredrikstad.

But, whatever the outcome of the Flowers situation, Filan believes the pressure will still be on him - and he welcomed it.

"I don't think it will be any different to last season," said the Aussie, who could do nothing about IFK Gothenburg's opening goal last night.

"I don't think Tim wants to stay, though things haven't yet panned out for him.

"But if he, or Alan Fettis, is still here, or someone else comes in, I am sure there will be competition.

"That's what all top clubs want to be successful and I think it helps you.

"It's not a case of saying 'Yea, it's great, I have competition for my place'.

"But you know you have to play well and in that regard it's good.

"At the moment there are three first-team keepers at this club and young Anthony Williams.

"There's only one goalkeeping spot, so the competition is always fierce." Kidd, meanwhile, could take satisfaction not only from the squad's opening performance but also from the fact that there were no apparent injuries last night.

All the outfield substitutions were merely to give tired legs a break.

The manager felt it would have been "a travesty" if Rovers had lost a game they dominated.

"There was a lot of good came out of it and I was pleased most of all for the lads that they got a good result," he said.

"In terms of fitness, I thought we were excellent. It just shows how we are working them and how they are responding to it.

"This is only preparation for the season but I felt we could take a number of positive things out of the game."

Rovers also delighted the Swedish supporters by staging a warm-down for some players and a training session for others in the squad on the pitch after the match.

They also satisfied everyone's demands for autographs.

Rovers today dismissed reports that Keith Gillespie had already been ruled out of the start of the season because of back and hamstring problems.

Chief Executive John Williams said: "He had a precautionary scan on his back which showed no serious problems and it is hoped that he will be able to return to training with the first team squad when they come back from Scandinavia."

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