THE Rovers squad has had mixed fortunes this week during the petrol crisis.

Steve Harkness ran out of fuel on the M6 and had to be towed for the rest of his journey.

Alan Kelly joked that he has been free-wheeling down the hill to the Brockhall training ground with his engine off.

But wily midfielder Jason McAteer appears to have struck lucky.

He admitted: "I think I live one of the furthest away so it's a bit of a nightmare for us but we've got a shady little garage around the corner from mine which seems to be getting some petrol.

"I don't want to say too much, but it's been alright."

And McAteer was quick to point out that he hadn't been cashing in on his rare find.

"There's been no black-market stuff going on," he insisted.

Pain in the neck

FORMER Ewood favourite Mike Newell's career at Blackpool suffered an amusing turn during David Bardsley's time at Blackpool. The full back had suffered a crick neck following an accident, resulting in him holding his head at a slight angle. The striker complained that it took him three games to realise that Bardsley was not indicating for Newell to make fruitless runs down the channel.

CELTIC striker Henrik Larsson was not telling Rovers fans anything new when he heaped praise on new partner Chris Sutton. He said: "Chris is the type of player that will maybe do that little bit extra work. I've always said that Chris is a quality player." Maybe Gianluca Vialli is regetting not having had a bit more faith.

Eyal love you

TALKING of affairs down at Stamford Bridge, the news that Dennis Wise was a summer target of Souness raised a wry smile. Can anyone imagine the prospect of Dirty Den seeing eye to eye with another potential Ewood arrival, Eyal Berkovic? Wise has got an even shorter fuse than John Hartson, who famously booted the Israeli in the face during their time at West Ham.

KENNY Dalglish remains an interested party in the affairs at Rovers and was again at the game against Watford on Tuesday.

Missing you

ONE wag in the crowd for that 4-3 defeat was worried about the whereabouts of transfer target Lucien Mettomo. "We don't need another defender who goes missing, we've had enough tonight," he quipped.

The name game

THANKS to fanzine 4,000 Holes for inspiring an idea for anagrams from players names. Their offering was Nathan Blake: Ankle Bath. My pathetically topically attempt is Graeme Souness: U! Esso angers me. Any suggestions gratefully accepted.