LARS Bohinen could miss the most crucial stage of the season for Blackburn Rovers after pulling a calf muscle in training at Brockhall yesterday, writes PETER WHITE.

The Norwegian was on crutches last night and, given his history with calf injuries, he faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines.

Rovers boss Roy Hodgson, stunned by the injury which came out of the blue almost at the end of yesterday's training session, won't put a timescale on the player's likely absence just yet.

But he is bitterly disappointed at losing the services of another midfielder just when Garry Flitcroft has been handed a two-match suspension.

"It came right at the very end of the training session and out of nothing," said the manager.

"He was just making a run.

"I need him to be fit but they will not make a diagnosis of the injury for a couple of days until it has had the chance to settle down."

Hodgson is aware of the problems that Bohinen has had in the past but he will remain hopeful that the player can recover more quickly this time.

Meanwhile, rumours that Rovers are chasing Port Vale winger Gareth Ainsworth seem to be just that.

Local lad Ainsworth, who was a trainee at Ewood before being released, has played for several clubs in the lower divisions and was in action for Vale against Arsenal last night.

The "rumour" of Rovers' interest was mentioned on Sky TV but there is no evidence of anything more concrete, certainly at the moment. And a national newspaper story that Lazio are about to sign Chile striker Marcelo Salas has also prompted suggestions that Rovers' target Pier Luigi Casiraghi's situation could change.

Ewood chief executive John Williams could only say: "We are continuing to monitor any targets which Roy might have."

But I understand that, at this minute, Lazio's stance on Casiraghi remains unchanged. In any case, Salas is being linked with other clubs, notably Parma.

Rovers pulled off a superb 4-1 win at West Ham last night to reach the last 16 of the FA Youth Cup.

The Hammers were rated among the favourites for the trophy as they are currently dominating their own league with a record of 14 wins and a draw from 15 matches.

But Rovers, who beat Manchester United after a replay in the last round, dominated the game and youth development boss Bobby Downes said: "It was a first-class team performance.

"These games are very important in the development of the kids, to see how they can handle them. We approached it in the way the first team would and they were very professional in everything they did."

Craig Woodfield put Rovers into a first-half lead when he fired home a cross from Andy McAvoy and Gary Hamilton picked up a through ball just after half time to make it 2-0.

West Ham, who had their highly-rated schoolboy Jody Cole on England under-16 duty, were enjoying their best spell of the game and pulled a goal back to give them a glimmer of hope.

But left winger Paul Forsyth turned his marker inside out to smack home the third Rovers goal.

It was Forsyth who made it 4-1, following a corner, with a shot into the top corner to crown an outstanding all-round performance by the young Rovers.

They lined up: Stewart, Richardson, Taylor, Brown, Murphy, McAvoy, Dunn, Scates, Forsyth, Woodfield, Hamilton. Subs: Topley, Ryan, Connolly.

Rovers are now away to either Liverpool or QPR in the fourth round.

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