BLACKBURN Rovers manager Mark Hughes has run the rule over Dutch Under-21 star Maceo Rigters.

And it is understood the Ewood Park outfit are one of four clubs interested in signing the NAC Breda hitman.

Rovers chairman John Williams said: "The Dutch lad is someone that Mark likes. I know that he admires him a lot."

Weekend reports had suggested Newcastle and Rovers had both made bids for the 23-year-old, who has also been strongly linked to both Celtic and Rangers.

Breda director of football, Earnie Stewart, said: "I can confirm that neither Celtic, nor Rangers, have bid for Maceo Rigters. The only two offers have come from the English Premiership."

Rigters, who finished as the top scorer at the recent European Under-21 Championships, has two years left on his contract with the Dutch side.

He had been in dispute with Breda over whether or not a release clause existed within his contract, but an agreement was reached on that point.

Some reports in Holland have suggested a fee of £500,000 may be enough to secure his transfer.

Breda are in the process of negotiating a new contract with him, but they say they have had to approve his request to be allowed to open talks with interested clubs, with Celtic one club who have believed to have already opened negotiations with him.

Stewart added: "If Maceo and/or his agent want to reveal the clubs, that's a matter for them, but NAC Breda won't comment other than to confirm there have been two English bids for him."

Meanwhile Ipswich chairman David Sheepshanks has warned the Tractor Boys will not be "held to ransom" over their desire to sign Rovers striker Francis Jeffers.

He said: "We have made a very good offer to Blackburn Rovers that provides them with a major stake in his future career on top of a realistic guaranteed fee.

"I still hope that we can agree terms for Franny to join us permanently, but if this doesn't happen Jim Magilton has a number of other players in his sights that he would like to bring to the club."

However, Williams is hopeful deals can be done with both Jeffers and defender Andy Todd this week.

l Ticketing information for Rovers' pre-season match against Huddersfield on August 1 have been announced. The initial allocation for advance sales for the match is 700 tickets.

Tickets are situated in the Pink Link Stand with Rovers fans having a maximum allocation of 4000 tickets.

They will go on sale from Wednesday, July 11. Fans can pay on the day of the game, although family tickets are only available in advance.