HOWARD Wilkinson was talking about his own team and club situation when he commented at Ewood last night: "Sometimes you just have to tough it through and grind out a result."

But he could just as easily have been discussing Blackburn Rovers.

Two home defeats and, not just without a goal but with few signs of one being imminent, mean the going is already tough.

Can the tough now get going, or is new blood the only answer to solve a striking dilemma that has been evident in every single game so far? Yes, Rovers scored twice at Old Trafford but you have to wonder if they might well have won that game with a strike force to match the overall quality of the squad.

Last night's aimless affair merely served to underline the obvious weakness - and the situation has deteriorated still further with injuries to Kevin Gallacher and Paul Warhurst.

Rovers boss Ray Harford is tough but badly needs a break. I suspect, however, that it will have to be one - at least one - of his own making in the transfer market.

He himself has admitted he wants to wait for Chris Sutton to recover but he also pondered how long he could afford to wait.

The answer to that question has been given. He can't delay any longer. Not that we were only looking at the strike force for what went wrong last night. Far from it, even though it was heart-breaking that so much creativity from George Donis on the right went to waste in the first half.

The flaws showed throughout the team who could hardly have given a more contrasting display to their previous efforts at Old Trafford.

But, when it is your key players who look so out of sorts, you have to wonder why and I am convinced that the shortage of goal power - we all know the reason for that and it's pointless to go into it again - is having an overall effect on the rest of the side.

When Rovers went behind to a goal that any defence would be unhappy at conceding, you just couldn't see a way back for them. True, Garry Flitcroft was desperately unlucky with a flashing header that twanged the crossbar from another excellent Donis run and cross.

But that was scant return against a Leeds team who, in my opinion, are unlikely to figure in the race for any of the major honours this season.

They were very tight and solid, a little cautious too as many teams will be when they come to Ewood.

But they profited from Rovers' mistakes, frustrated them down almost every avenue and rarely looked like losing a game that, beforehand, seemed to offer every hope of Rovers' first victory of the season.

It certainly shouldn't have produced another morale-sapping defeat. Goalless in three of their four games, however, Rovers have run out of the currency that brings wins.

The effect that has on others can also be summed up by the fact that they have yet to keep a clean sheet despite a settled defence.

Sadly, much of the positive atmosphere generated by the performance 10 days earlier was dissipated last night.

When the consistent and classy Colin Hendry is as uncertain as he looked against Leeds, you know it is going to be a struggle - and it was.

Rovers, especially in the first half, continually gave the ball away - sometimes in the worst possible areas - but Leeds weren't good enough to take even more advantage from a team who looked like strangers at times.

Apart from the speedy runs of Donis, which would have caused untold panic in the Leeds defence if Rovers had had someone capable of getting on the end of them, their brightest first-half moments came in the 19th minute. First Nigel Martyn produced a good save from Graham Fenton, then repeated the feat from Paul Warhurst, who limped off injured but, before that, didn't look the answer to that job vacancy in attack.

Leeds had produced some menace from set pieces and the moment of truth arrived five minutes before the interval.

From a free kick, Lee Sharpe swung a cross to the far post, Leeds players looked to be forming a queue to wait for it and it was Ian Harte who rose to head down and in.

Eleven minutes into the second half, Flitcroft thumped a header against the bar, then Fenton had a shot saved.

As time began to run out, Fenton found Tim Sherwood, who had strived manfully to keep Rovers going forward in search of an equaliser. The skipper set up Donis for a chance not dis-similar to the one England put away against Holland in summer when Teddy Sheringham played in a certain striker.

But, this time, the shot was well off target and, despite the usual cavalry charge towards the end, the game was up.

Leeds might have added another as they caught Rovers on the break more than once but they too were not exactly proficient in the striking department with Ian Rush an anonymous figure compared to his days in the red of Liverpool.

There was a distinct lack of creativity about Rovers. Plenty of effort but little subtlety and not enough movement or close passing which might have drawn Leeds players out of the ranks they packed so tightly.

And, even on the couple of occasions they won corners, the delivery from Lars Bohinen was again bitterly disappointing for a man with so much ability. This time last season, Rovers had only three points, from a narrow win over Queens Park Rangers.

They didn't ignore the warning signs then and they cannot afford to do so now.

Last night's performance stressed the desperate need for an attacking input, not least because all the other options are fast disappearing into the treatment room anyway.

The right signing(s) could lift the team, the fans and the whole club and action is needed with some urgency.

It won't come cheaply but I wouldn't imagine money is too big a problem.

As I have said earlier, it's time to make someone an offer they can't refuse, then start, in Wilkinson's words, to grind out a few results to ease the pressures beginning to build.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.