Hughes not daunted by Blackburn's injury woes

Mark Hughes, the Blackburn manager, believes his side can take another step towards the knockout stages of the Uefa Cup tonight even though his first-team squad are down on numbers.

Despite three successive defeats, and long-term injuries to key players Jason Roberts, Steven Reid and Ryan Nelsen, Hughes remains upbeat ahead of their Group E home match against Basle.

Brett Emerton is also ruled out tonight with a hamstring strain while Morten Gamst Pedersen (ankle) and Shabani Nonda (shin) were doubtful yesterday. On the plus side, influential midfielder Robbie Savage could be available.

But Hughes said: "We have a decent squad and I am not worried about three defeats in a row. I have been reasonably pleased by the performances, apart from the first half of the West Ham game. We should have beaten Bolton and we did fine against Chelsea."

* Tottenham's manager, Martin Jol, will decide whether to rest players for their Uefa Cup home game against Bruges tonight. Spurs face Chelsea at the weekend and Jol could save key men for that match.