Blackburn Rovers FC

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• Founded:1875
• Manager:Steve Kean

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Key trio back for Rovers

22 Feb 2007 - 08:01:52

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Blackburn Rovers boss Mark Hughes hops to have three key players back from injury for the UEFA Cup clash against Bayer Leverkusen at Ewood Park.

Morten Gamst Pedersen, Benni McCarthy and Tugay are all expected to come back into the side as Rovers aim to reach the last 16 of the competition despite losing the first leg in Germany 3-2.

Pedersen has missed Blackburn's last three matches with a leg injury, while McCarthy sat out the goalless FA Cup fifth round draw against Arsenal because of an Achilles injury.

Tugay was rested for the stalemate against the Gunners, while Aaron Mokoena is suspended after picking up his third yellow card of the UEFA Cup campaign at the BayArena last week.

"We're hopeful that they're all going to be okay. They've trained this week so it shouldn't be a problem for them," Hughes told the club's official website.

"Tugay needed a rest and Benni had a slight injury so we'll welcome them back.

"We'll create more chances against Leverkusen than we did against Arsenal. We're asking ourselves why we didn't perform in that defensive manner last Wednesday (at Bayer).

"We've had a real go in this competition and we're enjoying the European experience and we want that to continue. I sense the players will be really looking forward to the game against Bayer on Thursday."