Blackburn Rovers boss Sam Allardyce admits he wanted to sign Portsmouth striker Peter Crouch in January as a replacement for Roque Santa Cruz.

He said: "It was basically a case of if Roque was going I'd have been interested in Peter Crouch. If Portsmouth, in their financial plight were willing to sell, we would have been interested but it never materialised.

"When I was at Bolton I tried to sign him from QPR, then from Aston Villa.

"I told my old chairman at Bolton we were missing out on a very valuable player because he was only £1m at QPR. I saw what a terrific player he was then and I still think that now.

"His record speaks for itself. He's got 16 goals this year plus a one in two record for England.

"But it's not only the goals he scores, it's those he makes."