IAN PEARCE looks poised for an imminent return to London by joining Premiership rivals West Ham United in a deal worth between £2.25m, writes PETER WHITE.

The central defender is expected to be the next big name to leave Blackburrn Rovers as manager Roy Hodgson continues to transform the Ewood squad to his own liking.

And West Ham have nipped in front of Crystal Palace as favourites for Pearce's signature, having failed in a second attempt to prise Colin Cooper from Nottingham Forest.

I understand a fee has been agreed between Rovers and West Ham and that the player was due to have talks about personal terms in London today.

A move has been on the cards for some time and, as we revealed last week, Pearce had put in a transfer request which was granted.

Palace made an abortive £1.5m bid for him earlier in the season and Rovers pinned a £3m price tag on the 23-year-old who cost them just £300,000 when he joined them from Chelsea in October, 1993.

But now it seems they are prepared to accept less, even though it's still eight times what they paid for the former England under 21 man who has fought his way back from long-term injury without being able to claim a place in the team. The arrival of Tore Pedersen and the emergence of Marlon Broomes helped signal the beginning of the end for Pearce at Ewood.

Meanwhile, West Brom are hoping to persuade Rovers to extend the loan period of young striker James Thomas, possibly until the end of the season.

They accept there is no chance of a permanent deal but it gives Thomas the opportunity for first team experience.

West Brom boss Ray Harford said: "He's an exceptional player and has a great future ahead of him. But we probably couldn't afford his bootlaces."

Hodgson had words of sympathy for Preston last night as they ran into the Rovers goal machine at full throttle in a 6-0 Coca Cola Cup win.

"I thought Preston defended very well in the first half and tried to maximise their counter-attacking opportunities," he said.

"Gary Peters had the courage to put a second front player on the field and go with 4-4-2 in the second half and that definitely put more pressure on our back line.

"Preston were unlucky not to score, but I thought the days of knocking your goalkeeper over when he's in the air had ended with Nat Lofthouse. Obviously I was wrong," he added referring to a Broomes clearance off the line when Tim Flowers seemed to be fouled. Preston boss Peters defended his club's decision to refuse to put back the return leg by 24 hours at Rovers request as they play Coventry on Sunday, September 28.

"The fact that we are playing on a Tuesday has nothing to do with Rovers," he said.

"We are making sure we prepare right for the following Saturday's League game against Brentford. We felt there was a good chance of going out in this round and we didn't want our League games to suffer. There was no malice when we decided what day we were going to play."

Hodgson added: "If I was the Preston manager I wouldn't be too disappointed with my players, I would see the positive side.

"And the Preston fans did well. They showed a bit of humour in adversity and never stopped cheering their team. If you have that kind of passion, you have a chance."

Rovers A team drew 1-1 with Preston behind closed doors at Brockhall yesterday.

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