KING KENNY may have abdicated long ago but there is a new knight in shining armour at Ewood Park - and Roy Hodgson is the man after the crown. Dalglish will always go down in Rovers folklore as the man who brought the title back to Blackburn for the first time in 81 years - but Hodgson is also shaping a side capable of stealing the Premiership crown jewels from Fortress Old Trafford. Now the two managers come face-to-face for a battle royal at St James Park on Saturday in a joust to test the championship credentials of both sides.

Dalglish comes up against Rovers for the first time since his dramatic decision to quit Ewood Park in the summer of 1996. The canny Scot spent an unhappy season "upstairs" as Director of Football after his successful reign as boss ended the summer before.

Hodgson has always dismissed title talk, but he will relish the chance to test himself against genuine championship contenders. If anything, it is sure to be a battle of wits between two of the league's more thoughtful managers.

Dalglish, of course, is not the only link between the two clubs with David Batty, Alan Shearer and Shay Given all joining the Ewood exodus to be tempted to Tyneside in their quest for glory.

But second-placed Rovers are enjoying their best Premiership form since Dalglish left the club and are currently eight places and seven points clear of United.

Newcastle may have three games in hand over Rovers due to the "distraction" of European Champions League football - and their draining visit to PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday night is sure to favour Hodgson's men.

Given and Rovers defender Jeff Kenna are both out of the game as they will be on World Cup duty with the Republic of Ireland for the play-off clash against Belgium.

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