ROY Hodgson will not panic into making any hasty decisions, in the wake of Blackburn Rovers' 4-0 defeat by champions Manchester United on Sunday.

The Ewood boss wants to strengthen his squad in certain positions and stresses that he will do so when the right men become available.

But he is not going to have his hand forced by only the second defeat of the season - or the fact that he will lose Chris Sutton through suspension for the game against West Ham just before Christmas.

Rovers are light on the striker front, with only three experienced players available and, of them, Martin Dahlin is still on the injured list.

Though it is hoped that the Swede is not too far away from returning to the squad after a lengthy absence with a back injury.

Hodgson made his feelings plain when he said: "I shall not be panicked into doing anything.

"Kevin Gallacher didn't start the game (at Old Trafford). We still have him and lots of wingers at the club who are capable of playing up front. "I would be very happy to sign a top-class front player if one was available.

"But I am not going to run and jump into the transfer market and buy the first available player just because we have lost our second game in 16." The problem of availability isn't only affecting Rovers.

Newcastle's Kenny Dalglish is said to have money to spend but has been unable to find anyone to plug the gaps caused by injuries to the likes of Alan Shearer and Tino Asprilla.

The only striker linked with Rovers recently is Swede Pascal Simpson but nothing seems likely to develop down that avenue at the moment.

Simpson has expressed an interest in playing in the Premiership but, in any case, he is not expected to be fit until the end of January after surgery.

There's certainly no shortage of cash at Ewood and Hodgson has been responsible for boosting the bank balance.

By completing the sale of Chris Coleman to Fulham yesterday he added another £2.1 million to the funds.

By my reckoning, Hodgson is almost £13 million in credit from his own transfer dealings since coming to Ewood.

And he was told there would be money available before he came.

It is spending it on the right people that seems to be the problem.

The Coleman deal seemed to be dead but it was revived after the London club lost at Preston on Saturday and personal terms - the stumbling block - were agreed yesterday with the deal going through around noon.

Defender Peter Murphy and midfielder David Dunn are both back in action after injury and included in the Rovers squad for tonight's FA Youth Cup second round tie against Manchester United at Ewood (kick-off 7-30pm).

A good crowd is expected as Rovers bid for revenge after being beaten by United in the last two county cup finals.

"It's a smashing game for the lads," said youth coach Rob Kelly. "United are regarded as the best and you want to judge yourself against them."

Rovers, who reached the semi-finals last season, choose from: Stewart, Richardson, Murphy, Scates, Taylor, Brown, McAvoy, Dunn, Woodfield, Hamilton, Ryan, Connolly, Topley, Forsyth, Bingham.

Admission is £3 (all pay).

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