BEFORE I start, I've got one message for every Rovers supporter ... don't panic!

I'm the first to admit Sunday's performance at home to Fulham wasn't much better than the European nightmare in Turkey, but I know what the problem is. And the good news is, it's easily fixed.

A lot of people have been pointing the finger at Lorenzo Amoruso, which I think is unfair. Okay, he might be lacking in the pace department, but he's an experienced defender with a wonderful right foot. He just needs time to bed in.

The biggest worry for me is that the defence doesn't look like a unit. The members of the back four have changed regularly and that's what can happen when you don't have a settled defence.

And if you're going to field a flat back four, that's what you should stick to. At the moment, though, Amoruso seems to have been in one-on-one situations on his own many times - Louis Saha's second goal for Fulham was a classic example - and the reasons behind that need to be looked into.

I don't know whether it's because he sometimes sits deeper than the rest because he is concerned about his pace, or whether the limitations of defending go beyond that, but their shape as a back four needs to be better.

If you look at the way Fulham were marshalled and drilled, they caught Andy Cole out on about six occasions and they did it easily. They always looked like they knew what they were doing.

Rovers' defenders need to all be singing from the same hymn sheet and need to know how they are expected to play.

I think one of the crucial factors in Rovers' lapse in what has been a solid rearguard is the injury to Craig Short. I'm not sure how long it will be before he is back but I hope it's sooner rather than later.

Craig is a steadying influence at the heart of the defence and I think he would have helped Amoruso get through that difficult period of starting out at a new club a lot quicker.

Making an early impression for a striker can be quite straightforward, especially if you get good service and manage to get a goal or two in your first few games.

But it can be difficult for a defender, especially if you concede goals and have made the odd mistake. That can make it hard for you and can affect your confidence. It wasn't obvious, but there were little signs there after Fulham's second goal went in that Amoruso's confidence has been knocked.

However, as I said earlier, these defensive frailties can be easily rectified without reaching for the chequebook.

Handing more first team experience to Jay McEveley could be one option, after all, he didn't do a lot wrong last season. But Rovers' problem isn't something that can't be fixed with a few weeks of intense training.

I'm sure Graeme Souness will look at his options and see if he needs to think about bringing people in. I don't think he needs to do that now but if results don't come good over the next two or three weeks then he will look at making changes. He won't have any choice.

But, for now, all they need to do is work on the back four because you want that to be the rock that opposition attacks break on.