WEST Ham boss Harry Redknapp could lead the charge to reduce Blackburn Rovers' striker surplus with a bid for Kevin Gallacher.

And the Scottish international striker's former club Coventry are also understood to be considering an approach, with Ewood departures inevitable in the wake of Matt Jansen's £4 million arrival. Redknapp, looking to spend the John Hartson cash on two or three players to reshape his squad, watched the reserve game at Ewood last night with his assistant Frank Lampard.

Liverpool defenders Rob Jones and Steve Harkness are also believed to be potential targets but he could well have used the trip to talk about Gallacher's availability.

Confronted, Redknapp left people to make up their own mind about his intentions: "I do like Kevin Gallacher, he's a smashing player and I am here tonight."

While Rovers will not talk about individuals, they are ready to sell as chief executive John Williams confirmed today.

And it could be significant that assistant manager Tony Parkes commented on 21-year-old Jansen - "He's a bit like Kevin Gallacher. That's how we see him."

If Jansen represents a younger version of the popular Scot then it could well mean they prepared to part with Gallacher.

Expect a couple of strikers to be on their way soon. It is obvious Rovers will not keep all six. But Williams described a story in one national newspaper that Southampton had bid £2.5 million for Kevin Davies as "absolutely ridiculous and just not true."

Southampton, in fact, did make a tentative inquiry about Davies when he was out of favour some weeks ago. But it has not gone any further and it is unlikely they could accommodate his wages.

"We would welcome him back if we could afford him," said Saints boss David Jones who has seen Rovers pick up two more strikers he was chasing, Jansen and Nathan Blake.

Williams stressed today that not a single concrete bid had been received at Ewood for any player. But that situation could well be about to change.

He said: "I would expect there to be outgoings

"It's part of the process, you buy and you sell.

"But we are not into fire sales. Happily we are in a position where we are able to buy first from a position of strength.

"There has to be a redressing of the balance and, if offers come in, we will look at them. But we are in the fortunate position of not being under any financial pressure to sell players."

There has been no change in the situation regarding Rovers' interest in Jason McAteer and Crewe's Seth Johnson.

As we reported previously, McAteer's wages are a stumbling block, while Crewe are desperate to hold onto Johnson for the rest of the season, unless they get a cash offer they cannot refuse. Tim Flowers came through a second reserve game last night, kept a clean sheet against Liverpool and reported "no problems" with his shoulder.

Jack Chapman, formerly chief scout at Blackpool, is joining the Rovers Youth Academy as scouting co-ordinator in a part-time capacity.

Chapman has become one of the victims of the cost-cutting at Bloomfield Road and is well known to Academy director Bobby Downes, who has worked with him before.

The new man, who also worked for Peter Reid at Manchester City, has turned down an approach by Sunderland to join Rovers.

Sunderland have sold their allocation of just under 8,000 tickets for Saturday's FA Cup tie at Ewood, with prospects of the game against the runaway First Division leaders producing a full house.

Rovers fans are reminded that, as it is an all-ticket tie, they will not be able to sell seats on the day of the game.

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