Match Previews

Unbeaten in ten games since the start of the season ... Samba (r)(def) ruled out after being kicked in the head on Saturday; Reid (sp)(mid) and Berner (sp)(mid) miss out as well ... The manager to name the best possible 11 ... Blackburn will look to maintain their impressive start of the season when visiting Greek side Larissa on Thursday in a UEFA Cup first-leg clash. Rovers have already played four European games this season after going through one Intertoto Cup round and a UEFA Cup round. Latvian team Vetra was defeated in Intertoto with a 6:0 aggregate win while Finnish outfit MyPa was beaten 3:0 on aggregate. In both ties, Mark Hughes' men looked in complete control throughout the game and their win was never in doubt. The manager will look for that in the upcoming game as well as he will be keen to secure a first-leg advantage which will make the return leg only a formality. Blackburn have also made a really great start of the Premiership campaign and are one of the most solid teams at the moment. They secured a creditable 0:0 draw away to Chelsea on Saturday and have now made it ten games unbeaten in all competitions so far this season. The only low point in that game was the horrific head injury which Christopher Samba (r) suffered. The defender got a kick from Andryi Shevchenko and had to be carried off on a stretcher. The initial fears were allayed and the towering defender will be soon in action but the UEFA Cup clash comes too early for him and he will miss out. The manager is set to name the best possible 11 for the game as Hughes is taking this competition very seriously and will not underestimate the Greek opposition. Therefore, Roque Santa Cruz (r) and Benni McCarthy (k) will be paired up front again and will pose a major threat to the Greek defence. Meanwhile, apart from Samba, Stephen Reid (sp) and Bruno Berner (sp) remain out for the even though Reid is closing on full fitness and may be back soon.