THE hip injury to Matt Jansen that kept him out of today's FA Cup clash with Middlesbrough has intensified Blackburn Rovers' misery ahead of next weekend's trip to Cardiff.

Although Jansen is expected to respond to treatment, Rovers boss Graeme Souness is going into Sunday's Worthington Cup final with the possibility of having the best part of his first choice team on the sidelines.

Although number one keeper Brad Friedel came through the United States' 1-0 defeat by Italy unscathed in midweek, deputy Alan Kelly is struggling with the knee injury that kept him out of the Republic's 2-0 win over Russia on Wednesday.

That prompted the recall of Alan Miller from his loan spell at St Johnstone, although Cumbrian teenager Ryan Robinson deputised for today's clash as Miller wasn't registered in time.

Central defender Craig Short is one of several Rovers players who will miss the televised clash with Spurs through suspension, as will Lucas Neill, who is cup-tied after playing for Millwall in an earlier round.

That will mean a recall for John Curtis at right back, while Souness will decide on two out of three of Henning Berg, Martin Taylor or Nils-Eric Johansson in the middle, with Stig-Inge Bjornebye on the left.

The central midfield pairing of skipper Garry Flitcroft and Turkish international Tugay will also be missing, both suspended, which could hand an opportunity to either Damien Johnson - who is being released at the end of the season - and Alan Mahon - tipped for a move to Birmingham - to join David Dunn, Craig Hignett, Damien Duff or Keith Gillespie in midfield.

There is a doubt about Gillespie who picked up a knock on his ankle while on Northern Ireland duty in midweek that meant he was unavailable for the trip to the Riverside.

The light at the end of the tunnel for Souness is that record signing Andy Cole will be clear to lead the attack partnering either Jansen, or Welsh boss Mark Hughes, should he fail to recover.

Miller will probably return on the bench as substitute keeper but there may yet be fairytale involvement for some of Rovers' young guns who have done so well recently in the reserves and Academy sides.

Despite being in cup action for the next two weekends, Souness is setting his sights firmly on the clash with Bolton Wanderers in a fortnight's time.

He said: "It's a fact that the cups have lost some of their magic. If you do well in the cup competitions and get relegated, it's been a miserable season.

"For us, if we got knocked out of both cup competitions early on and finished halfway up the table, that would be a good year.

"The way the game has evolved has made the Premier League the most important competition to be in, not by a little bit, but by the length of Blackpool front.

"There is a way to change that, namely guaranteed Premiership safety for the two teams who get to the FA Cup Final and the one that wins the Worthington Cup.

"Guarantee them Premiership safety and you get a bit back that way. Off the top of my head, I don't think there's another way."

Rovers could benefit from such a rule change and despite their great form in the cups, they have slipped into the relegation zone in the Premiership. Despite the example of today's opponents Middlesbrough, who reached both cup finals in 1997 and were relegated, Souness insist he was going all out for victory at the Riverside Stadium today against a team they beat on the way to the Worthington Cup Final."

"We're going there to win the game," he said. "We've got a lot of supporters who are travelling there and who are paying hard-earned cash to watch us play. We're going to try and give them something to enjoy.

"We're not going to Middlesbrough to make the numbers up or go through the motions. We're going there to win the game and I want to get that winning taste again in my mouth."