A YOUNG foreign midfield duo arrived at Ewood Park yesterday to start their bid to impress Blackburn Rovers boss Sam Allardyce ahead of January’s transfer window.

Slovakian Juraj Hovancik, 19, and Algerian Amine Linganzi Koumba, 20, will be training with Rovers for the next week, with the option of extending their spell in England if they impress.

Allardyce is unlikely to have much of a transfer budget available next month, with the priority still on easing their wage bill, but Rovers will continue their attempts to unearth the next bargain - after Steven Nzonzi’s £400,00 summer capture from the French lower leagues.

With competition for every position, Rovers are content with the strength of their squad going into the second half of the season and any dramatic departures or arrivals are unlikely this January.

MFK Kosice’s defensive midfielder Hovancik impressed on trial at Middlesbrough last season along with former team mate Nemanja Matic, who is now at Chelsea, but financial issues destroyed a potential move to the North East.

Rovers have already seen a deal fall through for Kosice’s young Brazilian defender Dionathan Nascimento, due to his failure to land a work permit, but Hovancik will be hoping he can earn himself a Premier League opportunity.

He was joined at Rovers’ Brockhall training ground yesterday by St-Etienne’s Algerian midfielder Linganzi, who made his debut for the Ligue One side against Bordeaux in September 2008.

The 6ft 1ins creative midfielder played for St-Etienne in the UEFA Cup last season but has yet to break into the first team this time around.

Allardyce though has braced himself for having little funds to play with this January, after the 2008/09 accounts revealed they continue to run a wage bill about £5million higher than wanted.

The biggest problem lies in the club’s relatively low turnover, with a 90.6 per cent wage bill to turnover ratio, and Rovers will preferably see a couple of the higher earners leave next month - without materially weakening a competitive squad.

Rovers are anxiously waiting an answer from Chelsea on whether they can extend Franco Di Santo’s loan stay, while contract discussions are ongoing with David Dunn and Junior Hoilett.

Several senior players though will currently be disappointed with the amount of first team football they are getting and their potential departures could provide more room for manoeuvre for Allardyce.

A goal scorer is understood to remain the club’s number one target although Allardyce would also like to add a ‘passing midfielder’ to the squad if finances allow.