Rovers interview Allardyce

Shearer's dramatic withdrawal has opened the race to succeed Mark Hughes, with Allardyce, Paul Ince and former Chelsea assistant Henk Ten Cate now regarded as the most likely Rovers bosses.

While Allardyce would still be regarded as an outsider, not least because the Blackburn fans were not keen on the tactics Bolton employed under his charge, he is the most experienced of the trio and chief executive John Williams is keen to see the one-time England candidate.

Williams has already declared there will be no announcement until next week at the earliest but the mere fact he is seeing Allardyce on Thursday suggests the matter is getting closer to resolution.

There is little doubt both Williams and Rovers' support would have welcomed Shearer to the Ewood Park fold but after careful consideration the former Blackburn star opted against making a move into management, just six months after reaching a similar conclusion at Newcastle after being offered the chance to act as assistant to Kevin Keegan.

However, a local newspaper poll placed Ince as the next on the list, with Allardyce picking up just 10% of the vote.

It leaves him with some work to do in his chat with Williams although, having interviewed well with the FA when they were searching for Sven-Goran Eriksson's successor, that is not viewed as a problem.

Whether Allardyce could win over a sceptical Blackburn public is another matter, which is why Ince remains favourite.

Ten Cate is an interesting candidate though as he has plenty of experience too, even if most of it was gained in Holland.

A member of Frank Riijkaard's coaching team during two successful La Liga campaigns and a Champions League win at Barcelona, the 54-year-old has let it be known he would jump at the challenge offered at Ewood Park and may yet emerge as a live contender.