BLACKBURN Rovers will still be without a number of players for tomorrow’s final pre-season friendly at home to Wigan Athletic (3pm) – but the Ewood Park faithful should get a first glimpse of new boys Fode Koita and Sacha Petshi.

Darragh Lenihan (back), Chris Taylor (groin), Corry Evans (leg) and Chris Brown (knee) will certainly miss the match through injury.

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But midfielder Petshi, after a whistle-stop trip home to France, and attacker Koita, having continued to build up his fitness at Brockhall, are expected to play some part in the Latics clash.

Rovers boss Gary Bowyer, who should be boosted by the return of Markus Olsson (foot) and Jordan Rhodes (ankle), said: “Tayls is definitely out and we’re going to have to investigate his groin injury a little bit further, which makes him a doubt for the start of the season.

“Corry and Browny we expect to join in full training on Monday and Darragh will be back jogging this week.

“Fode is doing ever so well and, as Sacha played on Friday night (at Tranmere Rovers), we gave him a couple of days to go back.

“Remember he came over on a trial, went to Portugal, and then signed a contract. He only had one pair of trousers and one T-shirt!

“He’s progressing well, and so is Fode. He’s a powerful boy, we saw that in the games we watched him play, and once we get him fit, we think he could be a handful.”

Rovers’ small squad, which is being stretched to its limit by injuries, has been boosted by a number of players from the club’s Academy, including 17-year-old midfielder Willem Tomlinson, who again caught the eye in Tuesday’s 1-1 draw at Bury.

And Bowyer, who has been delighted with the form shown by senior stars Craig Conway and Ben Marshall, said: “Pre-season has given us an opportunity to have a look at some of the youngsters and Ryan Nyambe, David Raya and young Willem Tomlinson, who again I thought was excellent when he came off the bench on Tuesday, have done ever so well.

“We’re delighted with Willem’s progress but we have to remember he’s 17 years of age and a scholar.

“We asked him to play out of position when he came on against Bury. We asked him if he’d ever played there before and he said ‘no’, so we said, ‘right, it will be an interesting 45 minutes then’ – and it was.

“But he played with freedom and we’re delighted with that.”