A special case of the main result is the following. Let G be a finite, non-supersoluble group in which from arbitrary subsets X, Y of cardinality n we can always find x € X and y 6 7 generating a supersoluble subgroup. Then the order of G is bounded by a function of n. This result is a finite version of one line of development of B.H. Neumann's well-known and much generalised result of 1976 on infinite groups.