ROVERS: Hodgson ready to spend big

And the Rovers boss revealed that, thanks to Jack Walker's benevolence, he can afford the top players in the world.

Hodgson, given a tremendous ovation by a packed audience at an Ewood function organised by the Supporters' Association last night, stressed to the fans that he would like to strengthen the squad. But, finding the right players wasn't easy.

While he talked at length about potential new signings, the manager also revealed he hadn't yet signed his own three-year contract!

But he explained later it was simply going through the legal process, he had signed a letter of agreement and it was only a technicality.

"You don't need to worry about me flitting anywhere," he told a concerned member of the audience. "My next move will be to a yacht in the South of France."

New players, however, were the main topic of interest, at a time when yet another Rovers player has signed a new deal. Patrick Valery, who was only on a one-year contract, has extended his terms by another 12 months.

Hodgson said: "It wouldn't hurt us to get a couple of players in that's for sure.

"But it's very important that the players I bring in are, one, very, very good and secondly that they are the type of players happy to play at a club like Blackburn with the work ethic we have. "We don't work in a glamorous way and I am very concerned if I brought the wrong players in they would start to have a bad influence. But there's never a week goes by that we don't have daily meetings where we discuss players.

"There's no shortage of players wanting to play for us and we can afford the top category. But we have to find the right men." That's a very difficult job and the situation changes from day to day.

"We missed the boat on Casiraghi. I don't think he would have come anway but there was a slight opportunity.

"The good thing about Jack Walker is that he is one of the true benefactors. He's the number one fan.

"He pays because with the size of the club we couldn't compete with the Manchester Uniteds. We'll never get sponsors who will give us tens of millions.

"The quality of players we need to compete are going to cost a bit more. We desperately need Jack Walker who not only leaves his money in the club but encourages me to spend it."

A lack of glamour compared to the city giants, however, did remain a problem.

"If you are a young player, you want to drive your Porsche around the night clubs of London, not the back streets of Blackburn," explained the manager.

Hodgson covered a whole range of topics, including referees, rule changes and the fans. "Blackburn seems to me to be a civilised crowd but a passionate one and one which turns up every week," he said. "And I think that the 24-25,000 we get for a small town like Blackburn is better than 50,000 at Manchester. It would be a marvellous thing to do so well that everyone wants a season ticket next year and we have 22-23,000 sold. But the support's been good and it's enthusiastic."

Rovers' only doubt for the game at the moment is Damien Duff, who picked up a 'dead leg' against Bolton.

He faced a fitness test before the team left for London this afternoon.

Martin Dahlin's hopes of an early comeback have been put on hold by a calf strain, suffered in training this week. Rovers are likely to choose from: Flowers, Kenna, Croft, Henchoz, Hendry, Ripley, Sherwood, McKinlay, Duff, Sutton, Gallacher, Wilcox, Flitcroft, Bohinen, Broomes, T Pedersen, Valery, Fettis.

Arsenal would go above Rovers if they win and they could well be unchanged from the side which beat Newcastle at St James' Park last Saturday.

The only liklihood of a change would be if Patrick Vieira was fit after sitting out the last few games with a knee injury. Arsenal are expected to choose from: Seaman, Dixon, Adams, Keown, Winterburn, Parlour, Petit, Platt, Overmars, Bergkamp, Wright, Manninger, Upson, Mendez, Marshall, Hughes.

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