THERE was a time earlier in the season when Andy Todd must have feared he had played his last game for Blackburn Rovers.

A fall-out with previous manager Graeme Souness led to the 30-year-old being axed from the first team and his agent was instructed to find him employment elsewhere.

But Mark Hughes' arrival at Ewood Park has seen the slate wiped clean for a player who has always remained popular among the fans, and if confirmation was needed of his recent renaissance then it came in the shape of his man of the match award against Tottenham Hotspur last week.

On an otherwise dark day for Rovers, the one man who shone like a beacon of hope was Todd after he snuffed out the considerable threat of Jermain Defoe.

Now the former Bolton and Charlton defender is hoping to mark his 200th career league appearance with a similar performance at Crystal Palace tomorrow, where he will again come face to face with a striker who is in red-hot goal-scoring form.

Palace hit-man Andy Johnson is one of the main reasons why the Eagles have soared under Iain Dowie during the last 12 months.

Last season, the former Birmingham forward scored 32 times as Palace stormed to promotion via the play-offs.

This term, 'AJ' - as he's more affectionately known - is blazing a trail at the top of the scoring charts once again after bagging nine goals in 15 appearances so far, a feat that makes him the highest scoring Englishman in the Premiership.

It's not surprising, therefore, that Rovers consider him to be the biggest single threat to their chances of pulling off a second successive away win in the capital tomorrow.

But with Todd in imperious form at the back, Rovers keeper Brad Friedel is backing his team-mate to come out on top in the battle of the two namesakes.

"Andy was out in the cold under Graeme," said Friedel, who has set his sights on a clean sheet at Selhurst Park.

"They had a personal conflict and as it was noted in the Press, that was the case with a few of the players under Graeme.

"But when a new manager comes in, it always wipes the slate clean and Toddy has taken full of advantage of that.

"He's played really, really well since he came back into the side so everything looks very good for him again.

"He's an unflappable sort of character and very, very steady.

"He's a good passer of the ball and he doesn't get frazzled in pressure situations.

"From a goalkeeper's point of view, it's always good to have someone like that in front of you."

With just goal difference separating Rovers and Palace in the table, both sides go into tomorrow's six-pointer desperate for a win to ease the pressure at the bottom.

Palace are without a win in six league and cup games and they've lost their last two home games at Selhurst without scoring goal.

Rovers, in contrast, have lost just one of their last six but Hughes and his players are conscious of the fact they have only won once away all season.

If that record is to improve tomorrow then they must overcome a Palace side that has made great strides under Dowie.

This time last year, the Eagles were fighting relegation from the Championship but Dowie has masterminded a complete transformation.

His willingness to embrace new techniques and approaches make him a leading member of football's new breed of bright young managers.

Great emphasis is placed on psychology, for instance, as a way of getting the best out of players, which is why Dowie showed his players a video of 'The Rumble in the Jungle' between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman as part of their preparations to face Arsenal recently.

"The idea of watching the Ali-Foreman fight came from our coach John Harbin, who is the master of that - he is very thoughtful about these sorts of things," said the Palace boss.

"Ali's win was a huge shock at the time and is still regarded as one of the biggest shocks in sporting history.

"It just reminded the players that everyone is fallible and if you have belief, desire, and carry out the game plan you can execute it successfully.

"We also showed a very positive clip of all the individuals to re-emphasise the good things we have done this season and last season."

It's that kind of positive thinking which could well hold the key to both side's survival chances during the remainder of the season.