BLACKBURN Rovers winger Morten Gamst Pedersen is ready to put his body on the line in a bid to ease the club's injury crisis.

The Norwegian international broke a rib following a collision with Gary Neville in Rovers' 1-0 defeat to Manchester United 11 days ago, but instead of taking time out to recuperate, Pedersen has vowed to play through the pain barrier - even though it could take another five weeks to heal properly.

The former Tromso star needed a pain killing injection before Sunday's game against Tottenham Hotspur but, thankfully for manager Mark Hughes, he managed to complete the full 90 minutes without showing any outward signs of discomfort.

Now Hughes is hoping to nurse Pedersen through the next few weeks because he can ill afford to lose another senior player with Steven Reid, Ryan Nelsen and Jason Roberts already on the sidelines.

"On occasions, Morten's going to get pain and discomfort but he's shown he can get through games, which is a bonus," said Hughes.

"He had to have an injection (before Sunday's game) but we try not to give him injections during training sessions, he's just got to get through them, because if they overlap then their effect isn't as great.

"You can't just keep giving him them because the effect is lessened, so we're just trying to get him through training sessions at the moment, then if he feels he needs injections for games, we'll give him them."

There's no actual treatment for the type of injury Pedersen has suffered so the midfielder must wait for it to heal naturally, which could take until Christmas.

In the meantime, Hughes and his coaching staff will try to wrap Pedersen in cotton wool between matches, which is easier said than done given the intensity of some of Rovers' training sessions.

"Unfortunately, you can't do much about a broken rib - you've just got to get on with it," said Hughes.

"Sometimes if it's the cartilage then it can become more uncomfortable and you can get problems breathing and sleeping, but Morten isn't having trouble in that respect so we've got away with it, if we can say that.

"We expect it to take five or six weeks to heal, but there's no danger to him.

"If it was likely to crack, or something else catastrophic, then he wouldn't be playing, but we've been told that's not likely to happen.

"At the end of the day, he knows his own body and he won't go into challenges that he knows will compromise him leading into games."

Pedersen was expected to be in the Rovers squad that flew out of Manchester Airport today in readiness for tomorrow's crunch UEFA Cup group E clash with Feyenoord in Rotterdam.

A point against the Dutch would see Rovers through to the next phase, but Hughes is under no illusions about the size of the task awaiting his players having watched Feyenoord chalk up their fifth straight win at the weekend when they beat AZ Alkmaar 3-2.

"We need to be positive. They're a good side and they got a good result at the weekend," said the Rovers boss.

"I was able to get out and watch them first hand, which was helpful.

"It was a big game for them, they needed to win, they were playing against good opposition in AZ Alkmaar, but they came through it and it was a good result for them, so they'll be buoyed by that result and it will be a difficult game.

"But I think we need to be positive. Our European performances have been good home and away, so why not?"

Tugay will serve a one-match ban for his sending off against Tottenham Hotspur after Rovers yesterday lost their appeal.

An independent disciplinary commission rejected Rovers' claim for wrongful dismissal so the Turk will now miss the Premiership clash with Fulham on December 2.