THEY say the best time to strengthen is from a position of strength.

If that's the case then I really hope Blackburn Rovers' corporate advisers manage to resolve the long-running takeover saga BEFORE the transfer window opens again on January 1.

Mark Hughes has managed to manoeuvre Rovers into a great position during the open quarter of the season.

Sitting pretty in sixth position, with 18 points from their first nine games, Rovers have given themselves a great platform from which to launch another European charge during the remainder of the campaign.

But just imagine how much stronger that challenge would be if Hughes was given some serious cash to spend by new investors in the January window?

A fresh injection of, say, £10-20m in January could be the difference between Rovers pushing for the top four and the top eight.

If ever there was a year to crack the big four's' dominance then I'm convinced this is it.

All is still not well at Chelsea following the shock departure of Jose Mourinho, despite an upturn in results, and similar problems appear to persist at Liverpool, where Rafa Benitez's obsession with rotation is threatening to undermine the Reds' title aspirations.

Throw in all the cloak and dagger stuff that's going on at Tottenham, too, and it becomes tempting to believe the way is open for a club like Rovers to mount a genuine charge for a Champions League place.

There's no doubt Rovers need to attract fresh investment from somewhere because it's unrealistic to keep expecting Hughes to unearth hidden gems like Chris Samba on a shoestring budget.

The bottom line is the Jack Walker Trustees clearly want out, otherwise they wouldn't have employed Rothchilds to find a new buyer in the first place.

But they will only sell if they can find a fit and proper' person (or people) to take the club forward, which is easier said than done.

Ideally, they'd want someone who is already a lifelong Rovers fan, with a bottomless pit of money, who has the ambition and drive to take the club on to the next level. In other words, another Jack Walker.

However, the reality is such a person probably doesn't exist, otherwise they would have stepped forward long ago.

That means the trustees may therefore have to look at groups who have no long-standing connections with the club, but do have the financial clout to take Rovers to the next level.

One Sunday tabloid tried to claim at the weekend that a mystery Pakistani consortium' was interested in buying Rovers - a rumour which has since been dismissed by the club.

At the end of the day, though, the more Rovers continue to challenge near the top of the Premiership, the more attractive they will become to foreign investors because of the potential riches a place in the Champions League would generate.

That interest could come from anywhere in the world: America, Russia, China or Pakistan - it doesn't really matter providing the fit and proper' criteria is met.

It would then be left to the trustees to decide what's ultimately best for the club?' Let's hope they at least have a decision to make between now and the New Year.

l I was delighted to hear that Rovers had secured the services of Chris Samba for a further five years.

The Congo international has been a big hit since he joined the club from Hertha Berlin in January.

He's still raw but over the next few years I'm sure we'll see him blossom into one of the Premier League's top defenders.