BLACKBURN boss Graeme Souness has been hit by a fresh injury blow after key defender Henning Berg dropped out of Norway's World Cup qualifying squad to face Armenia last night.

Berg is almost certainly out of Rovers' Worthington Cup clash with Middlesbrough next week after aggravating a foot injury in Sunday's 2-0 defeat against Aston Villa.

But Souness today allayed fears that he could be missing for up to a fortnight by insisting he still has a chance of facing West Ham on Sunday week.

And he could also have a new face in the team by then after moving a step closer to signing Nuremberg's Nils-Eric Johansson last night.

"Henning's struggling to make it for Wednesday but I would hope that he'll be back in time for the West Ham game," said Souness.

"He's had a bit of a problem with his foot for a while and he aggravated it again on Sunday."

Norway coach Nils Johan Semb immediately called up 1860 Munich defender Vidar Riseth yesterday to strengthen his injury-ravaged squad ahead of Saturday's away clash with Armenia in World Cup qualifying Group Five.

But, as the Norwegians can no longer qualify for next summer's finals, Berg's injury is more of a concern to Rovers than it is to his international boss.

Souness has seen his defensive resources decimated in recent weeks following injuries to John Curtis, Craig Short and Martin Taylor.

But Short has a chance of returning against the Hammers and, with a free week to rest, it is hoped Berg's problem will settle down, too.

As we revealed last night, Swedish Under 21 skipper Johansson should also be on board by then with Rovers likely to tie up a £2 million deal with German outfit Nuremberg in the next 48 hours.

Rovers are still keeping tight-lipped about the identity of their target.

But, as I understand it, Johansson flew into England on Monday for a medical.

And the deal could be completed in time for the weekend.

"We hope to complete a signing reasonably soon, possibly in the next couple of days," said chief executive John Williams.

Meanwhile, tomorrow night's Under 21 clash between England and Greece at Ewood is now a sell-out following a flood of interest over the last couple of days.

Williams is delighted with the response from football fans throughout the North West.

And he believes the late Jack Walker would have been thrilled at the prospect of his home-town club staging such a spectacle.

"I'm absolutely delighted with how everything has gone and it's great news for Ewood," said Williams.

"I'd just like to say a big thank-you to Blackburn Rovers fans in particular and North West football fans in general for the way they've supported this.

"We'll extend a warm welcome both to our Greek visitors and to all the England fans who turn up.