BLACKBURN Rovers are preparing for a Viking invasion as Graeme Souness bids to pep-up his squad in their march towards the play-offs.

As we exclusively revealed yesterday, Souness was in Norway last weekend to watch Egil Ostenstad's former club Viking take on Odd Grenland in the Norwegian Cup final.

And the Ewood chief has now invited several of those players over to England next week for a trial as the Norwegian season closes down for the winter.

"I went over to watch the cup final at the weekend and we've invited several players over to train with us at Brockhall next week so we can take a closer look," said Souness. Former Manchester United striker Erik Nevland now plays upfront for Viking and could be among the potential targets.

Souness is clearly in the market for a striker and he has gone on record as saying he prefers foreign players with experience of English football.

And Finnish international Hannu Tihinen could also be in the frame after playing in his country's recent World Cup qualifier against England.