EWOOD chief Graeme Souness today paid tribute to Nils-Eric Johansson after his latest signing made an impressive debut in last night's Worthington Cup win over Middlesbrough.

Rovers booked their place in the draw for the fourth round after Craig Short secured a 2-1 victory with a header deep into extra time.

And Souness was quick to praise the part played by new super Swede Johansson following his decision to plunge the former Nuremberg star in at the deep end in the wake of his £2.7 million move from the Bundesliga.

"I thought Nissa looked extremely composed, especially considering he'd only trained twice with the lads prior to the game," said Souness.

"He was arguably our best player on the night and he fitted in very well, which is all credit to him.

"So he not only looks one for the future but one for now as well."

Craig Hignett set the ball rolling with his first goal of the season following his recall to the starting line-up.

But, after Boro struck back through Slovakian Szilard Nemeth, Rovers fans had to wait until the second period of extra time before Short had the final say on his own return after injury.

"We could have done without extra time but we are through to the next round which is all that matters," said Souness.

"At 1-0 we were very much in charge of the game after we'd worked hard to get into that position.

"But then we let them back in and it became a struggle after that.

"If we hadn't given that goal away, I think we would have gone on to win in comfortable fashion.

"But we got there in the end and that's all that counts."

Aside from the result, Souness was also pleased to see both Short and John Curtis come through the tie unscathed after battling back from injury. And the likes of Hignett and John Filan also seized the chance of a rare start as Souness rotated his squad with another vital Premiership game coming up against struggling West Ham on Sunday.

"You have to consider that was John Filan's first game for a while and it's understandable that he was a wee bit unsure at times."

"But he made a couple of decent saves," said Souness.

"Likewise, Higgy hasn't had many 90 minutes recently.

"And we had John Curtis, Craig Short and Ciccio Grabbi all coming back from injury so there were a few other bonuses apart from us winning the game."

But, after Boro struck back through Slovakian Szilard Nemeth, Rovers fans had to wait until the second period of extra time before Short had the final say on his own return after injury.

"We could have done without extra time but we are through to the next round which is all that matters," said Souness.

"At 1-0 we were very much in charge of the game after we'd worked hard to get into that position.

"But then we let them back in and it became a struggle after that.

"If we hadn't given that goal away, I think we would have gone on to win in comfortable fashion.

"But we got there in the end and that's all that counts."

Aside from the result, Souness was also pleased to see both Short and John Curtis come through the tie unscathed after battling back from injury. And the likes of Hignett and John Filan also seized the chance of a rare start as Souness rotated his squad with another vital Premiership game coming up against struggling West Ham on Sunday.

ENGLAND Under 21s have been drawn against Holland in the European Championships play-offs in a two-leg tie.