ROY HODGSON is convinced that Martin Dahlin is the right man for Blackburn Rovers - on two fronts.

The Rovers boss feels that he has signed not only the type of striker the club badly needed, but also one with whom the supporters will be able to relate.

And the only thing he asks of the fans is that they show a little patience and give the Swedish World Cup star time to settle in.

Delighted with the way things have gone here in Scandinavia, the manager revealed how he had set about targeting a specific type of striker and how he is happy he has finally got his man.

"We wanted a recognised international striker," he said. "We wanted someone with a name because I thought that was important after the type of striker the club has had.

"I was anxious not to bring in an unknown, someone who may or may not be a good player given time.

"I wanted someone who would be capable of doing something in the Premier League from the first week and showing that he's got the quality that our supporters are looking for.

"That is a very hard man to find because there aren't many international strikers around and there aren't many who are available.

"The ones who are around you have to prise away from their clubs and that is sometimes a very difficult thing to do.

"We were just lucky I got the information about Martin that Roma could be contemplating selling him.

"Everybody expected him to stay at Borussia Moenchengladbach and I just went in and managed to persuade him to come to us instead.

"There can't be many international strikers with a better goal scoring record. I think he has played 52 games and score 27 or 28 goals.

"That's more than one goal every two games and there aren't many people who have done that.

"So I think we have got a very good acquisition and it's just going to be a question of how long it takes him to settle down.

"The only thing you can do is to plead for that time because it's difficult when new players come to the club.

"He has not played in England before, he's had six years in Germany and six months in Italy.

"The Premier League will be new for him, Blackburn will be new for him and his team mates are new. He is going to need a bit of time and sympathy at the beginning before people start making their judgments on him."

Rovers fans have been holding out for a new hero ever since Alan Shearer left.

And Hodgson is confident they will take to former Malmo, Borussia Moenchengladbach and Roma striker Dahlin once he starts to show his qualities.

But it's also very difficult to fulfill those requirements.

Dahlin was set for his first Rovers appearance in this afternoon's pre-season friendly against Danish side Hvidovre in Copenhagen.

Striker partner Chris Sutton was once again linked with Liverpool today.

Liverpool were also due to arrive in Copenhagen today

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