MARTIN Dahlin is set to return to Ewood at the end of his loan to Hamburg, with the Bundesliga club not expected to take up their option to buy him.

But, with Blackburn Rovers now having a glut of strikers, there looks to be little future for the Swedish international back here in England.

Since he left to join Hamburg in October - with an option for the Germans to buy him for £500,000 at the end of the season - Dahlin's mentor Roy Hodgson has been sacked and new boss Brian Kidd has brought in forwards of his own choice.

So Rovers look like being left with an expensive player on their hands and Dahlin himself without anywhere to play unless both parties decide to cut their losses.

Dahlin's Ewood contract runs until June 2000. Rovers' chief executive John Williams said today that the club had not had any official contact from Hamburg about the player's situation.

But we can reveal that he has not had much success on his return to the Bundesliga and has been struggling for fitness with back problems which also affected him while he was with Rovers.

German contacts explained: "He has not made a very good impression and has not played many games.

"Hamburg definitely do not want to buy him. He has not played as well as he did when he was with Borussia Moenchengladbach.

"He has also been troubled by his back and says that he cannot play well because it is painful.

"And he spent some time in Stockholm seeing a physiotherapist about the problem."

Dahlin was previously very successful in the Bundesliga but has been unable to repeat that performance.

Hamburg already have ex-Leeds striker Tony Yeboah up front and have extended his contract for another year.

And our contacts revealed that they have also set up the signings of two more forwards for next season. All that will leave Dahlin, who was signed by Hodgson from Roma for £1.6 million in July 1997, out in the cold.

With another full season remaining on his Rovers contract it will give the club a problem of what to do with the Swede once he is back on their books.

Dahlin failed to make an impact in his first season in the Premiership, when he had injury problems as well.

This season, he was restricted to two starts and four appearances as sub before Rovers agreed the extended loan deal with Hamburg in October.

But it now seems it was only a temporary solution.

Meanwhile, Rovers boss Brian Kidd is concentrating on getting back to basics with his depleted squad without the pressures of a game this weekend.

He hopes this 10-day spell before Everton visit Ewood will be an opportunity for Rovers to regroup ready for some crucial fixtures.

"I am not going to go on about the injuries and suspensions, because there is absolutely nothing we can do about them," he said.

"But it has been good to get back on the training ground to get some work done.

"We hadn't been on the training pitch for a fortnight and I am a great believer that you play as you train."

The postponement of Tuesday's reserve game away to Everton would have come as a blow to players such as Damien Johnson, who might have been able to get some match action behind him.

But Kidd will be happy to concentrate on building up players at Brockhall and Johnson, who was on the bench for the FA Cup replay with Newcastle after being out since Christmas with a knee injury, will be welcomed back.

"He has just come back training with the squad and we are now looking to step up his work," added the manager.

Rovers' Academy games against QPR at Brockhall on Saturday have both been switched to the afternoon.

The under-17 and under-19 matches will now kick off at 2pm.

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