ROY Hodgson confirmed he will step up his search to re-inforce the left back position vacated by Graeme Le Saux's £5 million move to Chelsea.

It could lead to interest in the likes of Everton left back Andy Hinchcliffe, who replaced Le Saux in the England squad for a time.

But the Blackburn Rovers boss insists he will not settle for second best in his quest for new players.

Everton, who have Terry Phelan as first choice and a promising youngster in the wings, may be prepared to sell but Hinchcliffe is injured at the moment, picking up a thigh strain in his comeback match after cruciate ligament surgery. Hodgson seems certain to make more signings in the coming weeks but it all comes down to availability.

Admitting that he was looking, he stressed: "We are not desperate but if we find a good player we will buy him. First, we have to find him and we will not be buying any bad players." The manager would have liked to have kept Le Saux but realised some time ago it was a lost cause, a "fait accompli" before he had even arrived.

"There's no point keeping a player who is not 100 per cent committed to Blackburn Rovers," he said.

"No coach wants to lose such an excellent player but you have to accept it otherwise you are in danger of undermining everything we are trying to do."

Chelsea managing director Colin Hutchinson said: "He becomes our record signing. It's been a mistake, which we admit, in selling him and it's taken four and a half years and £5million to rectify that error."

The fee would have been higher but for a nominal sell-on clause, covering the original deal that took Le Saux to Ewood.

Hodgson, meanwhile, saluted Colin Hendry's powers of recovery which put him line to play this afternoon and he also had a message for the fans.

He urged them to remember how far the club had come in a relatively short time, have patience with the new players, the new modified style and also to have faith in the club.

He is upbeat about the prospects but said: "Without good support and without the commonsense attitude I have come to associate with Lancashire people the task becomes more difficult.

"We are not Real Madrid, we are Blackburn Rovers and we intend to be a very good Blackburn Rovers and not a very poor Real Madrid."

Rovers fans will welcome Hodgson's open-ness but should not mistake his plea for patience and realism as a lack of ambition.

"It's the start of a new era. The championship is two two years past. It was a fantastic achievement and one we would all love to repeat," he added.

"But I think you have to be realistic and accept if we are to do it again, then maybe we need to start again.

"To start again, we need to introduce new blood, not only in terms of the manager but in terms of the playing staff."

That's as sure a signal as any that Hodgson will be buying again.

Jeff Kenna is in the Republic of Ireland squad to face Lithuania in Dublin on August 20. Defender David Worrell is in the under-21 squad for the game the night before.

Latest £500 Double Your Money winner is R Cornwall (Oswaldtwistle) number 228A.

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