BLACKBURN boss Graeme Souness today vowed 'it's pay-back time' at the Stadium of Light tonight as Rovers attempt to erase the memories of the last seven days.

Souness said his players let themselves and the club down on Sunday when they crashed to a hugely disappointing 3-0 defeat at the hands of Aston Villa.

And he's looking for an immediate response from his troops in the North East, where Rovers will attempt to salvage something from their season by booking a place in the fifth round of the FA Cup.

"Generally speaking, we've had a good season but the last three weeks or so have threatened to take the gloss off that and the players are feeling just as miserable as the fans at the moment," said Souness.

"On Sunday, first and foremost they felt as if they'd let themselves down, as well as the club.

"So it's up to us to put that right with a good performance at Sunderland tonight. "

"On the whole, I believe I've got a good bunch of players at this club and every time I've asked them for something extra they've given it me.

"So my attitude is tonight's game can't come quickly enough because we want to get Sunday's game out of our system as quickly as possibly.

"We know we were poor against Villa but this is a great chance to put that right."

Souness has seen his squad decimated by injuries in recent weeks and the players appeared to show clear signs of tiredness against Villa on the back of a punishing schedule.

However, the Rovers boss does not subscribe to the view that his team is suffering from 'burn out.'

"I'm not big on that, to be honest," said the Ewood chief.

"If you're mentally strong then you can easily play three games a week.

"I think the big factor on Sunday was we conceded a soft goal after two minutes and that set the pattern for the rest of the afternoon.

"We tried to make changes at half-time but unfortunately they didn't come off."

Souness has Henning Berg back in contention for a starting place tonight for the first time since he damaged his Achilles in October.

And skipper Garry Flitcroft admits his return could make a crucial difference as Rovers attempt to set-up a fifth round meeting with Watford.

"It's a big bonus having Henning back because he's a talker and he organises the back four," said Flitcroft.

"And we've also missed Lucas Neill as well who was suspended on Sunday.

"The lads were really disappointed with our performance against Villa because that was probably the worst we've played this season.

"But I believe we've got a good set of lads who want to put things right.

"We were on a good run before all this so let's hope it's a blip."

New boy Vratislav Gresko is ineligible tonight as he was not signed in time for the original tie and Andy Todd is still suspended.

Rovers will choose from: Friedel, Neill, McEveley, Taylor, Berg, Flitcroft, Tugay, Gillespie, Thompson, Cole, Yorke, Ostenstad, Jansen, Johansson, Danns, Douglas, Curtis, Kelly.

Craig Short and Damien Duff could both be in with a chance of returning for Saturday's game against Southampton.

Short (calf) and Duff (hamstring) have both been making good progress in training after missing the last few weeks through injury.