CRAIG Short has vowed to do everything in his power to shore up Rovers' leaky defence as he prepares to make his farewell appearance at Old Trafford tomorrow.

The veteran defender will return to the firing line following a four month injury lay-off against Manchester United in the absence of the suspended Lucas Neill.

And the 35-year-old stopper hopes to mark his first Premiership start of the season by leading Rovers to a famous victory at the home of the champions.

"I'm really excited. It's so long since I last played in the Premiership, I can't wait to get going again and what a game this is to come back to," said Short, who will make his 100th league start for Rovers at the Theatre of Dreams.

"This could be the last time I ever play at Old Trafford so I want to make the most of it.

"It's a great challenge for me and it's one I'm really forward to.

"It's a good time to play them. They've got the Champions League next week and they've also had a lot of players away on international duty.

"That's why we did so well against Arsenal last season because we caught them at the right time. They had their eye on other things and we were able to take advantage so let's hope it's the same scenario tomorrow."

Short's towering presence at the heart of the defence has certainly been missed this season.

Rovers have yet to keep a clean sheet in 15 attempts during his absence, which is in stark contrast to last season when Brad Friedel had more shut-outs than any of his Premiership rivals.

That defensive profligacy led to the club sliding into the dropzone recently.

But a morale-boosting win against Everton last week stopped the rot and now Short and his team-mates will head to Old Trafford with renewed confidence, hoping to repeat the 1-0 victory they enjoyed against United at Ewood last season.

"We are capable of it. Not a lot of people will expect us to get anything there given the recent run we've had but there's some big players in our team and I'm sure they can raise themselves for this one," said Short.

"If we got a result it would give us a great lift, especially after the Everton win.

"We know it's going to be tough but if we can keep them quiet in the first 20 minutes then their crowd can get a little bit expectant.

"I think we'll have to do a lot of defending but we've shown in the past that we can get results against the top sides.

"We beat both Arsenal and Manchester United last season and we've also drawn with Chelsea this season, so it's not impossible."

If Rovers are to win at Old Trafford for the first time in 43 years then much will rest on Short who, along with Andy Todd, will be charged with the job of keeping the lid on Ruud Van Nistelrooy.

The Dutch master has already scored 14 goals this term, including a hat-trick against Scotland in midweek, and Short knows it will require maximum concentration to keep him quiet.

"I played against him last season at our place when we won 1-0 and I have to say I didn't think too much of him then," said Short.

"But I then got the shock of my life at Old Trafford when they beat us 3-1 because I thought he was outstanding on the day.

"I don't think I'd put him in the class of Thierry Henry because Henry has so much pace.

"But Van Nistelrooy is probably the better all-round player.

"Maybe this week's excursions might mean he's not on top of his game tomorrow and at least they haven't got Paul Scholes who always seems to do well against us."

With Neill ruled out through suspension, Short looks set to partner Todd in the centre of defence with Markus Babbel switching to right-back.

Andy Cole will also miss the game as he serves the second of a three-match ban.

And Rovers boss Graeme Souness also has concerns over the fitness of Dwight Yorke who is battling to be fit following a thigh injury.

Rovers will choose from: Friedel, Babbel, Gresko, Short, Todd, Flitcroft, Ferguson, Emerton, Reid, Yorke, Jansen, Gallagher, Baggio, Taylor, Tugay, Enckelman.

Meanwhile, David Thompson could be ruled out for the rest of the season after undergoing surgery on his knee.

As we reported in our later editions yesterday, Thompson underwent an operation in America on Wednesday and although the long-term prognosis is good, Rovers are facing up to the fact that the England midfielder could have made his last contribution of the current campaign.