FOOTBALL League rules mean Blackburn Rovers will not be able to bring in a goalkeeper to cover for injured duo Jake Kean and Paul Robinson, but Gary Bowyer insists Greg Sandomierski has more than enough experience to deal with his shock promotion to number one.

With Robinson already injured, and now out for six months after being rushed to hospital with a blood clot on his lung, the last thing Rovers needed was for Kean to sustain knee damage in the 3-0 defeat at Cardiff City on Monday.

Kean goes under the knife today after being ruled out for the rest of the season, leaving Sandomierski to take his place between the posts for tomorrow’s crucial trip to Sheffield Wednesday.

With the loan deadline passing last week, Rovers will also be unable to bring in another keeper on an emergency basis because they also have 23-year-old Australian Seb Usai also available – even though the former North Queensland Fury stopper is yet to make his Rovers debut and is relatively inexperienced at senior level.

Should anything happen to Sandomierski or Usai, Rovers are then expected to be allowed to make an emergency loan signing.

But Sandomierski will now get his chance, after impressing with some decent saves on his Rovers debut as a substitute at Cardiff.

The Pole had to wait eight months for that first-team debut, arriving at the club in difficult circumstances when then boss Steve Kean admitted the 6ft 5in stopper was one of three August signings he had not seen play live – revealing that global advisor Shebby Singh had made the decision to sign them.

But the 23-year-old was linked to Chelsea less than two years ago and has three caps for Poland, having been named in their squad for Euro 2012.

He is currently on loan from Belgian side Genk, where he is contracted until 2016 but has yet to break into the first team since leaving Jagiellonia Bialystok in his homeland two years ago.

“The rules state that you can’t have an emergency loan while you have fit professionals on your books,” said caretaker boss Bowyer.

“Obviously we’ve got two fit professionals and there’s no point wasting any time on that.

“If the circumstances change then obviously we would look to explore that avenue then.

“But Greg’s a Polish international and acquitted himself well at Cardiff.

“I think you saw his temperament. There’s no tougher place to make your debut in the cauldron that it was and how the team was performing on the day.

“But I thought he made one excellent save in particular.

“He’ll be fine, he’s a confident lad, he’s a great size and he’s a Polish international so he’s got some experience behind him.”

Robinson had not played since December and was ruled out for the rest of the season when he was pencilled in for back surgery last week.

But after having the operation he was rushed back to hospital by Rovers medical staff after developing serious respiratory complications and a blood clot on his lung.

The situation thankfully ended with Robinson able to return home once more after staying in hospital over the weekend, although he will now not be able to return to action for six months.

But it was a scary episode for all involved, even if Bowyer played down the possibility of it being life-threatening at the time.

“Not as far as I’m aware, but there is always that when there’s implications from an operation,” he said.

“But certainly it was worrying. Robbo’s a great lad and credit to our medical team and Paul for recognising the urgency that was needed and the importance of how they went about it.

“They acted quickly and got him to hospital. Our medical team were superb, Dave Fevre, the doc and the rest of the staff.

“Thankfully he’s got it sorted and the club will back him 100 per cent in his recovery.”

Rovers have plummeted into relegation trouble in recent weeks after 10 games without a win and sit level on points with both the relegation zone and 21st-placed Sheffield Wednesday.

Bowyer sat his players down for a meeting yesterday to discuss the battle ahead, with seven matches remaining.

“We had a meeting with the players and made them fully aware of where we’re at,” he said.

“It was an honest and frank conversation where we showed them the league table.

“We went through the schedule that lies ahead but I expressed to the players that all seven games are winnable, as long as we go and put ourselves about and compete for every ball going and throw our bodies on the line, and show that we care and we’ve got some passion and professional pride about us.

“It was a collective thing and everyone bought into it.

“But a lot of that is words. It’s now about actions.”