Hodgson relies on double act to star

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Rovers have conceded four goals in each of their last two Premier League games, against London sides West Ham and Arsenal, and Hodgson believes Zamora and Johnson can get on the mark at Ewood Park if they play as they did in the victory over Bolton last weekend.

That was the first time Hodgson's two big summer signings, Johnson for £10.5 million from Everton and Zamora for £4.8m from West Ham, had played alongside each other and he was impressed by what he saw.

Hodgson said: "Their task now is to maintain that level of consistency and hopefully score goals.

"I'd be quite happy if they can reproduce their performance against Bolton for the next 35 games. I couldn't ask for anything more."

For all that, Hodgson is determined that his return to Blackburn - the club he managed for nearly a year and a half from June 1997, taking Rovers to sixth in the league and a place in the UEFA Cup - will not be tainted by complacency.

Fulham are on a roll, following wins achieved with impressive passing football against Arsenal and Bolton. But Hodgson said: "Nobody here will be complacent because they know there are players behind them in the squad who can also play well."

In particular, winger Julian Gray, right-back Fredrik Stoor and defending midfielder Dickson Etuhu are maintaining the pressure on those currently in the starting XI.

Etuhu, signed from Sunderland, offers Hodgson a useful option to play-makers Danny Murphy and Jimmy Bullard.

The manager said: "We took him on knowing it was going to take time to get him back to something like match fitness, because he hadn't done much pre-season training at Sunderland.

"But he is working really hard at it and played 70 minutes for the reserves on Monday. He's making great strides.

"If we did not have such a great choice at the moment then I could easily push him in, but I can afford to be a bit cautious and wait a bit because we are not in desperate need."