GRAHAM Poll will be the first man to judge whether Blackburn's "brat pack" are prepared to turn over a new leaf.

Mark Hughes reckons his wild Rovers are making a conscious effort to improve their wretched disciplinary record, so who better to test their sincerity than England's top referee?

But no-one, not even the respected Mr Poll, should expect miracles at the Reebok on Sunday.

Records show that Bolton-Blackburn derby clashes are fraught with disciplinary problems - Garry Flitcroft, Andy Cole and Paul Reid have all been red-carded in recent encounters - but that was before the men from Ewood were branded the dirtiest team in the Premiership.

And it was before Hughes - a combative creature who never shirked a challenge in his playing days - added Robbie Savage, Paul Dickov, Craig Bellamy and Aaron Mokoenai to the mix and, it must be said, before Sam Allardyce increased Wanderers' menace by recruiting the bruising Kevin Davies and their nuisance value with the signing of El-Hadji Diouf.

Even without Andy Todd, who is suspended, and Bellamy and Dickov, who are struggling to be fit, this has the potential to be the spiciest Lancashire hot-pot in living memory.

It could also be the most entertaining - a full-blooded encounter between two clubs fighting for local pride in front of the Sky TV cameras.

For Wanderers, it is an opportunity to build on their victories over Newcastle and West Ham and enhance their position among the Premiership pacemakers while, for Rovers, it is a chance to register their first away points and give their fans the bragging rights, at least for the next five months.

Statistics and the form book suggest, however, that it will be Rovers' discipline, or lack of it, that will be the focus of most attention.

Even discounting Todd's three-match ban imposed retrospectively for a head-but on Tottenham's Andy Reid, the Ewood men are joint top, ironically alongside Spurs, in the "Bad Boys" league with two red cards, seven yellows and 72 fouls in their first four games.

However ferociously Hughes has defended his players, there is no doubt they are struggling to live down the reputation they were first saddled with by Chelsea's Jose Mourinho last February.

He claimed his players had been deliberately targeted, and which came under universal scrutiny in April when pundits, critics and many neutrals took exception to their robust approach in the FA Cup semi-final clash with Arsenal.

But Allardyce, who is no stranger to criticism himself, refuses to jump on that particular bandwagon and expects nothing less than a no-holds-barred encounter this weekend.

Responding to the suggestion that Rovers were merely an image of their manager, he said: "You could have said the same about Graeme Souness. I think he thought he was harder than Sparky, I'm not sure Mark would think so.

"Blackburn's Blackburn. I think they've always played a hard, tough game using the qualities they've got and it will be no different in a derby against our closest rivals.

"We've had many a battle over the last five years while we have both been in the Premiership and that will continue. We hope to come out the victors, particularly playing at the Reebok, and make sure that we keep up this winning scenario that we've moved into over the last two games.

"We know we should have had more victories than two out of four, so we must make it three out of five, and that will be very difficult against Blackburn. They have very passionate fans and very passionate players who understand the importance of winning a derby. I think it will be the normal physical contact that we always get in a game like this as well as quality and outstanding endeavour from both sides.

"Hopefully, we'll have enough quality to overcome them."

Hughes is at least halfway towards getting Rovers back on the straight and narrow by acknowledging that there is a problem to be tackled.

"To be fair, we haven't helped ourselves," he said. "At the moment our record doesn't make good reading and we have to address it.

"We are making a conscious effort to do so, but we have slipped up badly in the initial games and put pressure on ourselves again."