ROVERS winger Damien Duff today admitted he's likely to miss Saturday's game against Newcastle after he limped out of last night's Republic of Ireland match with a fresh injury worry.

Duff felt a twinge in his troublesome hamstring during the closing stages of the Republic's European Qualifying defeat at the hands of Switzerland.

And, though he revealed this morning that the injury is not as bad as first feared, he is still resigned to the fact that he is almost certain to miss the visit of the Magpies at the weekend.

"I don't know the full extent of it just yet but I felt something, which is why I decided to come off straight away before it got any worse," said Duff.

"At this stage, it doesn't feel as bad as the hamstring injuries I've had in the past but I don't think I've got much chance of playing at the weekend.

"Fingers crossed, it won't be too bad. But for me, personally, and for Ireland it's not been a good week."

If a scan was to show up a tear then Duff may miss out on his dream of appearing in the first leg of Rovers' UEFA Cup clash against Celtic, the team he has supported since childhood, in a fortnight's time.

And that would come as a major blow to manager Graeme Souness who is currently without both Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke who are sidelined with similar problems.