Blackburn Rovers boss Steve Kean says he is struggling to find enough fit players for tomorrow night's Carling Cup meeting with Newcastle United.
The Rovers host the Magpies at Ewood Park in the fourth round and Kean is short on numbers with the likes of Michel Salgado, Steven N'Zonzi, David Dunn, Vince Grella and Ryan Nelsen on the injury list and Jordan Slew cup-tied after playing in the competition with Sheffield United.
"We are still down on bodies, and with N'Zonzi suspended and Slew cup-tied we are lighter than we were on Sunday," Kean told the club's official website "We've a little bit of choice, but our programme is tighter than Newcastle's as we played Sunday, they played Saturday.
"After this we play Saturday and they don't play until Monday night, so we've been a lot lighter than them so far in terms of pre-match preparation.
"We'll see how everyone is in training tomorrow.
"We'll do some testing and just make sure everybody's levels are back up so they are not putting themselves at risk."
