Blackburn Rovers are aiming to trump Sunderland for their on-loan Marseille striker Djibril Cisse.

The Mirror says Rovers boss Sam Allardyce is making contingency plans for the summer departure of Roque Santa Cruz, with French international Cisse pencilled in as a replacement.

Rovers ran the rule over Cisse in Sunderland's 2-0 win over Stoke last week after the Wearside club left the former Liverpool Champions League winner out of both recent FA Cup clashes with Blackburn.

And Rovers are hoping Cisse's friendship with former Sunderland and Liverpool team-mate El-Hadji Diouf could prove a decisive factor in luring the French star to Ewood.