BLACKBURN boss Graeme Souness will ditch Lucas Neill ahead of Sunday's potentially explosive clash with Liverpool at Anfield.

As I understand it, Souness will drop Neill from his side to face the Reds in order to spare the Australian from the possibility of further torment at the hands of the Merseysiders.

Neill found himself at the centre of a storm in the corresponding fixture earlier this season when his late challenge on Jamie Carragher left the England defender with a broken leg.

The former Millwall star was sent off for that tackle and he then saw red again when the two sides met in the Carling Cup six weeks later.

Now Neill will pay the price for those misdemeanours by losing his place to Markus Babbel on Sunday.

Souness thinks the sight of Neill in the team may act as a motivational tool for a Liverpool side who are currently under pressure themselves.

But the manager is also thought to be concerned by Neill's recent loss of form, too, and his place in the team may well have been in jeopardy anyway.

"The manager doesn't really want to give Liverpool an advantage by playing Lucas if that's going to be a plus for them," said assistant boss Tony Parkes today.

"So he's thinking about Lucas Neill's position and we'll have to wait and see what he comes up with."

The decision to rest Neill could be one of several changes made by Souness, who is thought to be planning a shake-up after last week's desperate defeat at the hands of Portsmouth.

Lorenzo Amoruso could also win a recall at the back and Steven Reid looks set to replace

Martin Andresen on the left in a revamped line-up.

Rovers need to pick something up at Anfield in order to ease the pressure at the bottom of the table.

Their performances on the road this season have been far better than those at home and defender Craig Short believes Sunday's game could be exactly what they need after the Pompey defeat.

"The best thing for us right now is to be playing someone like Liverpool or Newcastle away rather than a Bolton or a Southampton.