Blackburn Rovers legend Alan Shearer says the club needs to spend big in January to save them from the drop.

Reflecting on Paul Ince's dismissal yesterday, Shearer said: “They need to spend in the transfer window because the squad has clearly not got the strength it needs.

“If they go down they could find it very difficult to come back up because it is getting much harder for clubs to bounce back.

“I think Blackburn see themselves as a top-10 club and so they should.

“Well if they want to be that they are clearly going to have to spend.”