LARS Bohinen and Gary Croft have given Roy Hodgson a timely boost, as the Blackburn Rovers boss waits for an exact diagnosis of injured winger Stuart Ripley's knee problems.

Both Bohinen and Croft have been given the all clear from calf and ankle injuries respectively and should be back in contention for a place in the squad to visit Liverpool on Saturday.

But the manager, who today agreed to let young midfielder Damien Johnson join Nottingham Forest on a month's loan, still has the lingering worry over Ripley.

Rovers remain hopeful that the injury will not be as serious as it first appeared.

Ripley pulled up suddenly after attempting a shot in Monday's FA Cup win at Hillsborough.

To lose him for any length of time at this stage of the season, with Rovers chasing both League and FA Cup success, would be a serious blow to their resources.

The boss is blessed with two natural left wingers in Damien Duff and Jason Wilcox but has no natural successor to Ripley.

Interestingly, Duff switched to the right flank against Sheffield Wednesday and looked just at home as he does on the left.

So that could be a temporary option. If Ripley has to step down for any length of time, Rovers might have to consider a move into the transfer market.

The original diagnosis by Alan Smith suggested the possibility of cartilage trouble and Hodgson has great faith in the Rovers and England physio.

But he was forced to wait for the results of the scan before assessing the position.

As well as Rovers' anxiety to have Ripley available for key Premiership and FA Cup ties coming up, the player could also have figured in Glenn Hoddle's thinking as the England coach looks at all his options in the build-up to the World Cup finals.

But he hasn't had the best of luck with injuries as far as the international scene is concerned, picking up a hamstring problem when he won his second cap in September.

The injury caused him to miss five Premiership matches.

For starters, it promises a reshuffle for Saturday's trip to Anfield and a crunch game against Liverpool, who trail Rovers only on goal difference.

Bohinen's anticipated return to the squad is particularly welcome, as Garry Flitcroft completes his two-match ban.

Meanwhile, Hodgson has agreed to a request to let young midfielder Johnson join First Division promotion hopefuls Nottingham Forest on a month's loan.

Just turned 19, Johnson has played at first team level once for Rovers, making his debut in the Coca-Cola Cup earlier this season against Preston. The manager feels a temporary move could be of great benefit to a young player who could have the opportunity to play in Forest's promotion-chasing first team.

Johnson came up through the Ewood junior ranks alongside the likes of Duff and James Thomas.

Duff has advanced faster than the others and, given an early opportunity, has already made quite an impact on the Premiership.

He has also been called up, along with clubmate David Worrell, to the Republic of Ireland B squad to play Northern Ireland in Dublin.

Both Duff and another young player, Marlon Broomes, were signed on five-year contracts earlier this season.

And Rovers chief executive John Williams confirmed today that the long-term Ewood futures of both Johnson and Thomas had also been secured on similar deals. They signed five-year contracts to commit themselves to Rovers for the foreseeable future.

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