CRAIG Hignett will definitely start his first game for Rovers since his £2.25 million summer signing at Wimbledon tonight.

Despite just 45 minutes of first-team action since an Achilles tendon injury, Hignett will be pitched into the fray at Selhurst Park.

And the former Barnsley midfielder will be given a licence to shoot by manager Graeme Souness as he looks to solve a striker shortage.

With Nathan Blake, Matt Jansen and James Thomas all ruled out, Souness has been trying to sign a loan front man to plug the gap.

But with a move now not likely to happen before the weekend, Hignett will have a key part to play as an extra attacking option having successfully come through his comeback as a substitute at Fulham on Sunday.

Souness said: "He was fine and that was a plus. He gives us something we've not had.

"He will start. He has to start. He's nowhere near match-fit but the situation we find ourselves in he has to play.

"He got a lot of goals last year coming from a midfield role. With our striking problems he might be in a more forward role. That's something that's forced on us."

Defender Craig Short is another injury worry which could mean a start for Martin Taylor against the in-form Dons strikeforce of John Hartson and Jason Euell.

Wimbledon are improving after a sluggish opening to the campaign but Rovers are desperate to end a run of four defeats in five games which has seen their own bright start fade away.

"We need to win away from home to give ourselves a real boost," Souness admitted.

"There were encouraging signs in the second half against Fulham. "Wimbledon will present a different type of challenge and we will have to be ready for everything they throw at us."

Souness recognises that the Dons are now more refined than their traditional image but in Hartson and Euell still have two big target men hungry to feed off crosses.

Rovers therefore need to show more steel to stop the rot and provide a platform for a winnable home game against Grimsby Town on Saturday.

"It's a case of picking up as many points as we can away from home because we haven't done that.

"The fixtures have been a bit unkind with three away games in a row but that will even itself out," Souness added.

Wimbledon will be without injured right-back Peter Hawkins. Darren Holloway, a recent arrival from Sunderland, will fill that gap with Mark Williams returning from suspension at centre-half.

Rovers from: Filan, Kelly, Curtis, Bjornebye, Taylor, Short, Berg, Dunn, Carsley, Flitcroft, McAteer, Duff, Hignett, Broomes, Johnson, Gillespie, Ostenstad, Kenna.

Wimbledon from: Davis, Holloway, Andersen, Willmott, Thomas, Hunt, Euell, Hartson, Gayle, Frances, Roberts, Owusu, Gier, Ardley, Agyemang, Heald.