STEVEN Reid believes Blackburn Rovers can still cause an FA Cup upset when they meet Arsenal in the semi-finals next month - even though they were beaten by The Gunners on Saturday.

Arsene Wenger's soon-to-be-deposed champions struck an early psychological blow when they completed a league double over Rovers thanks to Robin Van Persie's goal at the weekend.

The 1-0 defeat was all the harder for Rovers to bear as Arsenal were without a host of star names including Thierry Henry, Sol Campbell, Robert Pires and Dennis Bergkamp.

But Reid insists Rovers still have a chance of upsetting the formbook in Cardiff, regardless of whether Wenger has his big guns back or not.

"I would think that most of their team will change for Cardiff," said Reid.

"They've got Pires, Ljungberg, Campbell and Henry all to come back so they're going to have a strong team.

"But we'll go out in the same manner and I think we showed on Saturday that we have nothing to be afraid of.

"When you play against the top teams, no matter who they are, you've got to get in amongst them because if you show them too much respect then you can be in big trouble."

Rovers might have snatched a point at the death on Saturday when Reid raced through the centre but the Republic of Ireland international shot wide with only Lens Lehmann to beat.

"I just tried to get a good contact on the ball but unfortunately I snatched at it a little bit and it went wide," said the former Millwall midfielder.

"But hopefully if I keep bombing forward and keep getting into those areas then a few more goals will come."

In the meantime, Rovers boss Mark Hughes is hoping Paul Dickov will be excused from international duty after being called up by Scotland.

Dickov was due to report today but the striker is desperate for a rest after playing with a torn groin for the last three months.

"He's struggling at the moment with injuries. He'll go with Scotland and they'll have a look at him but really, the guy needs complete rest so hopefully they'll see sense and understand his situation," said Hughes.

"I wouldn't be surprised if we see him coming back."