LARS Bohinen has suffered another major disappointment - being dropped from the Norway squad who travel to Switzerland for a World Cup qualifying match on November 10.

The midfield man has been unable to claim a place in the Blackburn Rovers side recently and his axing by Norway coach Egil Olsen will be a particular blow as he used to play in Switzerland for Young Boys of Berne.

Defender Henning Berg is named in the squad, along with seven other English-based players, for what looks like a key game in the battle to qualify for the 1998 finals.

Meanwhile, Rovers have suffered a setback of their own, though it was not entirely unexpected, with Nicky Barmby due to complete a £5.75 million move from Middlesbrough to Everton today. Barmby is the man Rovers should have made greater efforts to sign some time ago.

Ray Harford wanted him and I believe Alan Shearer would have been happy to play alongside him.

Last week's bid for Barmby, which we exclusively revealed, was too late.

By then, Rovers were bottom of the table and about to lose their manager.

Even if Boro had accepted it, all the talk of big ambitions would have meant nothing to the England international when he looked at the table and the club's present plight.

Alan Shearer is backing Ray Harford to bounce back from his Ewood disappointment.

Shearer, who has started confidently on the road to recovery from groin surgery, said : "I spoke to Ray on Saturday night. I was obviously disappointed things didn't work out because I'm a great friend of his and I've got a lot to thank him for. Whoever gets him will be very lucky."

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