CHRIS Samba is set to be unleashed on Liverpool’s shell-shocked defence as Blackburn Rovers look to take advantage of their own aerial prowess.

The 6ft 5ins African defender is ready to answer Rovers’ striker crisis, with Roque Santa Cruz and Jason Roberts injured for tomorrow’s trip to Anfield, and help pile more misery onto Rafa Benitez’s title-chasing side after Chelsea’s midweek Champions League victory.

Samba’s influence as a second half striker in Saturday’s 2-1 win at home to Tottenham handed Rovers a huge boost in their fight against relegation - with boss Sam Allardyce more than ready to deploy similar tactics.

He said: “From my point of view it is waiting to see who is fit and who isn’t fit tomorrow and deciding whether Chris starts up front or not.

“It is not a case of square pegs in round holes with Chris though, because he played up front when he was younger. We just wanted him to calculate back in the memory when he played centre forward.

“He did that last weekend and had a massive contribution to us winning the game. The first goal was not from his aerial ability, it was from him taking the ball past Woodgate and crossing for Benni and the second was his physical presence.”

Almost half of Liverpool’s goals conceded this season have been from set plays, the worst record in the Premier League, and Allardyce is well aware of that ahead of tomorrow’s clash.

Chelsea’s first two goals in Wednesday’s night’s 3-1 win came from corner kicks and Allardyce admits he is hoping to cause similar havoc from Rovers’ own dead ball delivery.

“The set pieces are critical against the big boys,” he said. “It is your biggest area to score against them, because you always have the opportunity to put the ball in the box with nobody marking you.

“We know a part of our ammunition is scoring from set plays and not conceding from them because that is going to get us out of the trouble we are in.”

Liverpool’s midweek defeat has sparked more controversy about their zonal marking tactics but Allardyce insists it does not matter what defensive style you adopt sometimes.

He said: “Zonal marking is not my choice, because you can give a player a responsibility of who to mark and when that player scores he has no excuses.

“Whereas if you are zonal marking, you are marking that particular space so you are expected to compete against anyone who comes in that area.

“Even if they were doing man to man marking though, I am not sure you would have stopped Chelsea’s two goals. It was brilliant, brilliant delivery and a brilliant execution.

“The first thing is the ball in and sometimes the balls played in by Premier League players played in now you can’t defend them, and if you have someone as good or as brave as Ivanovic you are going to score goals.”