Thompson to make Anfield return

David Thompson will be back from suspension for the Boxing Day match against Liverpool, the club where he started his career, but Blackburn have a worry over David Dunn.

Dunn limped off during the 1-0 win over Manchester United with a calf niggle but if he is not fit Thompson, who until his ban had started every Premiership match since joining Blackburn from Coventry at the end of August, is a ready-made replacement.

Hakan Sukur’s broken leg keeps him out for eight weeks but Stig Bjornebye may make the bench.

PROVISIONAL SQUAD: Friedel, Kelly, Neill, Bjornebye, Short, Taylor, McEveley, Johansson, Gillespie, Tugay, Flitcroft, Yorke, Cole, Jansen, Danns, Dunn, Duff, Thompson, Ostenstad.