SUPER Swede Nissa Johansson last night revealed he still hasn't given up on his World Cup dreams as battles to keep Rovers in the Premiership.

Graeme Souness's £2.75 million signing from Nuremberg has turned in some impressive performances over the last couple of months in the continued absence of the suspended Craig Short.

And the cultured 22-year-old hopes that form hasn't gone unnoticed back in his homeland as the Swedes begin to formulate their squad ahead of the World Cup finals in Japan and South Korea.

"You never know. It's still a couple of months off and I might get a surprise ticket," said Johansson.

"I don't really know what the Sweden manager is thinking about me because we haven't spoken about the situation and I'm not sure if they have sent anyone to watch me playing over here.

"But the newspapers have sometimes mentioned my name around the time the squads are announced so who knows what might happen.

"Obviously, to get called up for the World Cup would be a dream for me but I can't go around thinking about that just now in case it affects my performances for Blackburn.

"We are fighting for our lives and that has to be my number one priority right now."

With Short set to serve the fourth game of a five-match ban against Ipswich tonight, Johansson looks set to keep his place in the team alongside Henning Berg at the centre of defence.

And he has reminded his team-mates of the importance of keeping clean sheets over the next couple of months as Rovers look for the points necessary to guarantee their Premiership survival.

"It's always nice for a defender to keep a clean sheet and I think that's even more important given the position we are in," said Johansson.

"If we can keep things tight then the opposition really have to struggle to score against you so it's very important that we don't give any easy goals away."

Rovers would appear to have tightened up defensively having conceded just two goals in their last three games.

And Johansson insists a lot of that is down to the form of keeper Brad Friedel, who he believes can become Ewood's answer to Peter Schmeichel.

"Peter Schmeichel had a great career, he's still a great goalkeeper and I can see Brad having the same sort of influence as he did at his peak," said Johansson.

"He's very athletic and he's got the same sort of presence so he has all the right qualities you need to be a top keeper.

"He's been outstanding for us this season and I think a lot of Premiership sides didn't realise just how good he is.

"In virtually every game he's made at least a couple of top saves so he's very important to our team and not only that, he's a great guy outside of football as well."