ROY Hodgson was today accused of "using" Blackburn Rovers for his own ends and leaving the club in a desperate position.

Ex-Rover Duncan McKenzie blasted the former Ewood manager, who could soon be back on the international scene as one of the candidates to take over as coach of Austria.

And McKenzie, who absolved Brian Kidd of blame for the current crisis, also believes that an influx of foreign imports has seriously damaged the hopes of Rovers, and another of his former clubs Everton, of Premiership survival.

"I thought Roy Hodgson saw Blackburn as a stepping stone for the England job which is appalling," said McKenzie.

"Brian Kidd came into a desperate situation.

"And if Blackburn do go down, the worst thing they could do would be to blame him.

"You can't tell clubs and you can't tell fans, because they are as bad as the clubs.

"But even more change could only create havoc and confusion.

"You know that Kidd has got the pedigree, he has learned under the best boss in the business.

"Every time you change things, it takes time for things to gel.

"Just look at Manchester City. Their downfall started the day they sacked Peter Reid. Since then they have had every Tom, Dick and Harry in charge and it is only by sticking with Joe Royle that they have now stopped the rot."

McKenzie has little time for many of the European imports and Hodgson brought a number to Ewood who flopped - one notable exception being Stephane Henchoz.

And he believes they are definitely not what you want in a scrap for survival at the bottom of the table.

"These foreigners just don't want to know when the chips are down," he declared.

"If they were on £200 a week and £20,000 an appearance they wouldn't miss a match. "But if your team goes down, they want away and leave a town in mourning."

Meanwhile, Hodgson, who had a terrible run of results stretching back to the beginning of 1998 before finally being sacked in November, is on a short list for the vacant Austrian job.

He is meeting the president of the Austrian Football Federation, Beppo Mauhart, in Prague while presenting new technical concepts to a FIFA congress.

But Hodgson must wait for the decision of respected Austrian coach, Otto Baric, who is favourite to land the role.

If Baric rejects the offer, Hodgson will be asked to take over.

"We have five names to be considered and we are waiting for the reply of one candidate (Baric)," an Austrian Football Federation spokesman said. "If he decides he doesn't want it, other names will come into consideration. Roy Hodgson is one of those names. Hodgson is also believed to be considering offers from a Premiership club, a Spanish First Division side and a Bundesliga club.

Brian Kidd has not ruled Billy McKinlay and Lee Carsley out of Rovers' relegation scrap.

Both players had a recurrence of their injury problems at Highbury.

But Kidd said: "With no game this weekend, they will be resting and we'll wait and see how they are early next week before we know anything definite."

McKinlay felt a reaction after making a quick return from groin surgery, while Carsley had more ankle problems.

But it seems a possibility that one or even both could recover for the next game.

Rovers Academy under-17s are at home to Peterborough tomorrow (1pm). The under-19 game against Coventry is off.

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