RAY Harford's search for foreign stars is gathering momentum.

The Blackburn boss currently has a number of irons in the fire as he bids to form a squad capable of winning back the Premiership.

Ewood interest in Bordeaux pair Zinedine Zidane and Christophe Dugarry is well-documented.

Harford has been particularly impressed with £4m hitman Dugarry after trips to France to see the pair in action.

And he might well see a striking partner for Alan Shearer as more of a priority than another midfielder like Zidane.

But a new name in the frame is Panathinaikos winger Georgios Donis.

The 26-year-old Greek international's contract is up this summer, making the player a free agent.

Under the Bosman rulings, Rovers would be able to sign the player for nothing.

However, FIFA have suspended Greek clubs from international transfer dealings.

The game's governing body claims the Greek Football Federation have failed to bring their "rules of operation" covering aspects such as crowd security up to international standards.

It is expected that the Greek government will intervene and the situation will be resolved shortly.

And the ban might not affect the transfer of a player no longer contracted to a Greek club.

Meanwhile, Alan Shearer and Jason Wilcox are hoping to form their own dream team within Terry Venables' England side in the run-in to Euro 96.

The Rovers pair linked up for 14 minutes when Alan Shearer took the field after overcoming the groin surgery which forced him to miss the end of the league campaign.

Wilcox was outstanding in his international debut in Saturday's 3-0 win over Hungary at Wembley.

And Shearer was quick to pay a personal tribute to the debut.

He said: "Jason might have surprised a few people against Hungary but it was a normal performance for him.

"He has been playing like that for Blackburn Rovers for a long time.

"We've played together at club level for four years - we have a great understanding.

"With his left foot, who knows what trouble we might cause together for opponents, given the opportunity?"

And Shearer was also delighted to be able to return to the fray, before the England party flew out to China today.

He added: "I was delighted just to get out on the pitch.

"It wasn't part of the plan a week ago.

"The idea was for me to get a 20-minute run-out in China and then play three-quarters of the second game in Hong Kong.

"But things have gone so well it was decided I'd get 10 or 15 minutes against Hungary.

"I felt sharp, the best I've felt for a while. I hope the month's break will have done me good."

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