BLACKBURN Rovers flew to Lyon today minus all four senior strikers.

Chris Sutton and Kevin Gallacher were joined on the injured list by Martin Dahlin who was ruled out with a calf injury.

Davies is on the mend from a severe throat infection but is also unavailable and so tomorrow night's UEFA Cup second leg against Olympique Lyonnais threatens to be a striker-free zone for Rovers.

All four were left behind as Roy Hodgson and the squad flew to France from Blackpool airport.

That leaves the manager with a huge headache as Rovers attempt to pull back a 1-0 deficit from the first leg,

It's the worst possible scenario for the club and Hodgson will be forced to field a makeshift strike partnership again as Rovers take on a team challenging for the French title.

Teenagers Damien Duff, David Dunn or even central defender Martin Taylor are all possibilities to play up front and the manager might have to change the system to 4-5-1 to try to solve his problems. A few players were nursing knocks after Saturday's game and will need to be checked when Rovers have their pre-match training session at the Stade de Gerland in Lyon this evening.

Rovers will select from: Flowers, Filan, Fettis, Kenna, Dailly, Peacock, Henchoz, Davidson, Croft, Taylor, Duff, Dunn, Flitcroft, Sherwood, McKinlay, Perez, Wilcox, Johnson, Andersson.

Dahlin's calf injury came on top of the red card which will cost him a three-match ban and, presumably, there will be internal discipline too.

Before it had emerged that the referee had dismissed Dahlin for spitting and not for the elbow with which he caught Marco Materazzi, the striker brushed aside the incident moments earlier.

"There is nothing to say about it, he was pulling my shirt. You can't change it anyway."

As for the elbowing incident, Dahlin added: "I don't really know what happened, there was a long ball we both went up for it and I probably hit him with my elbow in his face.

"It happens 10, 15 times every game it was nothing intentional but I caught him." Hodgson paid tribute to his team's effort at Goodison and it's true that they would be the happier of the two sides with the draw from a dismal game, especially as they were so weakened in attack.

"To lose Davies and Sutton yesterday and not have Gallacher back as predicted and then get a player sent off, as well as Stephane Henchoz suffering from stomach cramps from something he had eaten, I have to be pretty proud of my team and the effort they put in there," he said.

David Dunn, still only 18, made his first senior appearance as a 70th minute substitute but was then taken off for Rovers to try to hold on for a draw in the wake of Dahlin's red card.

"It was a purely tactical move on my part," said Hodgson. "I was sorry about that because he is a very bright player and a very bright prospect and I was quite looking forward to giving him 20 minutes in Damien Duff's place.

"But when Martin got sent off it was very important for us to shore up the midfield and Garry Flitcroft gave us better presence up front.

Rovers Academy sides enjoyed a win double over Bristol City with the under-19s winning 1-0 thanks to a Ryan Baldocchino goals.

The under-17s won 6-4 with goals from Lee Hardy (2), Ben Chamberlain, Stuart Howson, Michael Lawless and Robert Doyle.

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