BLACKBURN boss Graeme Souness is bidding to bolster his strikeforce ahead of tomorrow night's testing trip to Wimbledon.

Souness is working hard in the transfer market to bring in another new face but it won't be Everton hitman Mark Hughes.

The Rovers chief had mentioned the veteran front man as a possible factor in a swap deal for out-of-favour Ewood striker Egil Ostenstad but there is no deal currently in the pipeline.

Instead Souness is looking elsewhere for a loan signing as he desperately tries to reverse Rovers' current run of form which has seen them slip into the bottom half of the table.

"We are looking and we might be able to get somebody in on loan," the manager confirmed today.

Despite an imminent decision in Europe over the future of the transfer system, Rovers haven't implemented a freeze on cash buys.

However, Souness is looking into the loan market to freshen things up in the short term.

And the manager's desire to draft in a striker will have been intensified by the news that Nathan Blake has been ruled out of the Wimbledon clash and Matt Jansen is an almost certain non-starter .

The England Under 21 international suffered a setback when he aggravated an ankle injury in Sunday's 2-1 defeat at Fulham.

And the 22-year-old striker is now concentrating on a battle to be fit for Saturday's home game with Grimsby.

"It's not going to be right for tomorrow," said Jansen. "I went over on it during the West Brom game a couple of weeks ago which meant I hadn't done much training on it until the Thursday before the Fulham game.

"But then it went again on Sunday and now it feels quite weak.

"So, at the moment, we are just focusing on getting right for the weekend now.

"There's a lot of games coming up in quick succession so I need to be right.

"To be honest, it's not felt 100 per cent since I did it originally against Watford.

"There's not much I can do about it, though, other than to try and keep my fitness up and keep my weight off the ankle.

"Then, if it starts to feel stronger, I should be okay for the weekend.

"But it's starting to do my head in now."

Central defender Craig Short is also an injury worry but despite Rovers' present problems, Jansen is still confident they will come good.

He added: "After a great start the season has suddenly gone a bit flat.

"We were high on confidence until we threw away a two-goal lead at home to Watford.

"So confidence is a bit low at the moment but I'm sure we'll pick ourselves up against Wimbledon."

Elsewhere, Middlesbrough appear to have turned their back on former Rovers target Lucien Mettomo.

Mettomo had spent a week on trial at the Riverside after his move to Ewood fell through because of an injury problem.

But Boro boss Bryan Robson now appears to have snubbed the chance to sign the Cameroon international.