Roque's on a roll as Rovers dump Royals

Now, 12 years later, he believes his burgeoning partnership with Benni McCarthy could earn them a similar place in Ewood Park folklore.

There was a suspicion that Santa Cruz had been brought in to replace an unsettled McCarthy when he arrived in a £3.8million deal from Bayern Munich.

But with six goals each already this season, the two men have forged an understanding to rival the famous SAS strikeforce of Shearer and Sutton which won the 1995 title.

McCarthy scored twice to reward Mark Hughes' decision to restore him to the starting line-up, while Santa Cruz, written off for six weeks with knee problems a fornight ago, returned ahead of schedule to produce a magnificent all-round performance crowned with a well-taken goal.

With Tugay's thunderbolt underlining Blackburn's readiness to challenge the Big Four, Santa Cruz dares to go one step further and suggest it is not impossible to emulate the class of '95.

"Everything is possible in football if the determination is big enough in the team," he said. "We are willing to give it a try and will do everything we can to make it happen.

"I have read a little bit about Shearer and Sutton. Shearer, in particular, is a great player and I used to like him very much. It's great to be compared to that sort of player.

"But it is no good talking about being like them until we have won a cup. Fans remember the players who win trophies, not just who scores lots of goals.

"Everybody wants to win something this year, and the Premier League is the most important one."

At a joint cost of less than £7m, there cannot be a strike partnership giving such value for money anywhere in the top flight.

Hughes is delighted with his investment, especially because he was prepared to look beyond Santa Cruz's record at Bayern when other clubs were not so sure.

"A lot of people ended up looking at all the negatives which was his goal record and the injuries," said Hughes.

"But you have to say both were linked. He missed games and never got a real run in the team so that affected him. But he's really enjoying it and he's scored goals from the moment he came here.

"We're very lucky because they are two good guys and nice fellas. The qualities they have blend together.

"Obviously they have a great desire to impose themselves on the game, but not to the detriment of the team. We've got a great work ethic at the club and they have bought into it."

Santa Cruz unselfishly headed Brett Emerton's cross back across goal for McCarthy to volley Rovers in front. Then he latched onto David Dunn's neat pass to beat Reading goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann again soon after.

The American was beaten for the third time in 14 minutes when Tugay's 30-yard shot effort swerved between his hands.

Hammered 7-4 on their previous away outing at Portsmouth, Reading manager Steve Coppell had no hesitation in chasing the game rather than trying to limit the damage.

"My only target at half-time was to win the second half and we did," said Coppell, who took the blame for starting with an unfamiliar 4-5-1 formation.

His side looked far more comfortable in the second half - even if it was something of a procession for Blackburn - and substitute Kevin Doyle twice headed in from two Nicky Shorey crosses, either side of McCarthy's second from the penalty spot.

It was the 16th goal Reading had conceded in four away games.

"People are saying we've had a bad start to the season but if we had won then we would have had more points than we did at the same stage last season," countered Doyle.

The consensus is that after a successful first year in the Premiership, Reading are suffering from the dreaded 'second season syndrome'.

But Coppell insisted: "It's got nothing to do with a syndrome, a virus or a bug. It's just a hard, hard division and maybe reality bites a bit more."