BLACKBURN boss Graeme Souness is hoping for some good news from the treatment room as Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke battle to be fit for Monday night's televised clash with West Brom.

Cole and Yorke will both undergo fitness tests this weekend before Souness finalises his plans for the game.

But the buoyant Rovers chief is quietly confident he may have at least one of his strike duo back for the trip to the Hawthorns.

"They will both have fitness tests tomorrow so we should know more by Sunday in terms of whether or not they have a chance," said Souness.

"But we are not going to rush them for the sake of an extra 24 hours.

"Fortunately, we don't play until Monday so that gives them a little extra time to recover.

"Obviously, there's no guarantees because they haven't trained all week.

"But they are making good progress so I hope at least one of them might be involved."

As things stand, Cole would appear to have the better chance of returning after spending the last two weeks undergoing intensive treatment on the hamstring he damaged at Manchester City.

Souness has to be cautious with Rovers facing a hectic schedule of three games in the space of seven days.

So Yorke may be held back for the trip to Sofia on Thursday where Rovers must score to avoid being eliminated from the UEFA Cup at the first round stage.

If neither man was to make it, though, Egil Ostenstad looks set to continue as a lone ranger up front.

Souness was delighted with the Norwegian's attitude after he made his first Premiership start in almost a year against Leeds on Sunday.

And he appears to have done enough to remain in the first team picture for the time being at least.

"Considering he hadn't played for such a long time, I thought Egil did a decent job for us on Sunday," said Souness.

"He worked his socks off for the team and for that he deserves great credit."

Meanwhile, as we reported earlier in the week, Damien Duff was due to resume full training today which should boost his chances of playing some part on Monday.

Duff has been sidelined for three weeks after tearing a thigh muscle during an international against Russia.

But he has made excellent progress over the last 10 days and Souness is hoping he will be able to call on him again soon, either against the Baggies or in Bulgaria.

"We'll assess him over the weekend," said Souness.