Cruz winning fitness fight

Roque Santa Cruz could surprisingly retain his place in Blackburn’s starting XI for tomorrow’s Barclays Premier League match with Reading.

Blackburn’s top scorer looked set for a spell on the sidelines after pulling out of the Paraguay squad with a recurrence of tendinitis, but has made remarkable progress in his recovery bid.

Mark Hughes could also welcome back captain Ryan Nelsen from a long-standing hamstring problem. Striker Jason Roberts (thigh) is still out while Stephen Reid is nearing a return after more than a year out with a cruciate knee ligament injury.

Provisional squad: Friedel, Enckelman, Emerton, Nelsen, Samba, Ooijer, Warnock, Bentley, Dunn, Savage, Pedersen, Santa Cruz, McCarthy, Derbyshire, Tugay, Mokoena, Rigters, Khizanishvili, Olsson, Brown.