SAM Allardyce will be given the green light to spend the money Blackburn received from West Ham for Benni McCarthy – providing they do not slip down the table in the final three months of the season.

Rovers reluctantly sold McCarthy to West Ham for around £2m during the January transfer window and are expected to be able to reinvest those funds in the summer without having to sell players, although their final league position could yet affect their transfer budget.

Allardyce had attempted to replace McCarthy before the closure of the window, only for a late deal to sign Aruna Dindane to fall through, and has already turned his thoughts to summer targets.

He is understood to be focusing on bringing a striker and a central midfielder to the club, with Dindane possibly on the hit list again and others already linked including Benjani – currently on loan at Sunderland from Manchester City – and Standard Liege forward Dieumerci Mbokani.

Allardyce may consider trading if he wants to raise extra money but he knows he will have funds at his disposal in any case providing Rovers do not slip below the finish they have budgeted for.

That precise league position has not been revealed, but their current position of 11th would be sufficient.

And chairman John Williams says the Rovers boss will not be under pressure to sell if he wants to bring in players, with an increased television deal for all Premier League clubs on the way next season.

“It always depends on how we finish compared to what we budgeted for,” he said.

“If we can hold our league position then we should have the Benni McCarthy money to reinvest in the squad and hopefully that should allow us to make the signings we want to make.

“We’ve said all along that we will be sustainable without selling anyone as long as we can hold our league position, because then we’ve got the new television payments coming in for the 2010/11 season.

“Every position in the league is worth around £750,000, which is massive for us.

“But drop three places and that’s £2m off your budget and the Benni McCarthy money is gone.”

Rovers’ summer budget also received a boost as the club received confirmation that their next game, at home to Bolton, has been rearranged for Sunday at noon and will still be shown live on ESPN.

The game was originally scheduled for Monday night but had been expected to be automatically switched to Saturday at 3pm once Bolton’s FA Cup clash with Tottenham went to a replay, which will now have to take place that midweek.

A wrangle ensued yesterday between the Premier League and the FA over when each of the fifth-round replays would take place, with ITV’s televised fixtures potentially clashing with league games and Champions League matches that midweek.

But Rovers were eager to retain the ESPN television fee of around £500,000, which could also impact on their summer budget.

“These television games are so important to our budget because every game is worth the best part of £500,000,” said Williams.

“That’s not the sort of money we can make from normal day-to-day activities.”

However, visitors Bolton will not pick up any fee for the game.

Each Premier League team is guaranteed close to £6m for 10 televised games at the start of the season - whether the full 10 matches are screened or not.

Only when clubs get above that figure of 10 do they start to earn in the region of £500,000 extra per game.

Rovers have now had 11 televised matches confirmed this season, while Bolton have currently only had six scheduled and are unlikely to go over 10.

Lancashire rivals Burnley have eight games pencilled in.