DAMIEN Duff has been ruled out of the first leg of the 'Battle of Britain' clash with Celtic.

Rovers manager Graeme Souness admitted this morning: "He won't be back until the Aston Villa game or even beyond that.

"It is a big blow for us, but with a hamstring problem you just can't push it. Time has got to come into play with such injuries but he is a young lad and he should heal quite quickly."

Duff had his hamstring injury scanned at the weekend and he will be desperately disappointed to miss the trip to Celtic, the club he supported as a boy, although he is hopeful of making the second leg at Ewood on November 14.

But while Souness has been hit by the injury to his Republic of Ireland winger, he has been boosted by the fact that striker Andy Cole is ready to return to the fray at Highbury on Saturday.

"Andy Cole will be back in the group for the weekend and so that means we will only have Duffer out," he said. "Everyone has come through the Newcastle game well so it was a very good weekend for us. A good win and no injuries."

The return of Cole will give him the sort of selection headache all top flight managers want, especially as Matt Jansen returned to the first team for 20 minutes for the first after his horrific head injury in the summer.

But, as with Duff, Souness is determined that Jansen will be treated with kid gloves as he is eased back into the first team in search of the form and fitness that almost saw him on the flight to Japan with the England World Cup squad at the end of last season.

"It is hard to say that Matt is back after just 20 minutes against Newcastle," admitted the Rovers boss. "He needs to get a few more games under his belt and we are definitely nursing him back."

Having Cole and Jansen back in the squad is offering him an embarrassment of striking riches as they join Dwight Yorke, Egil Ostenstad and Ciccio Grabbi - and Souness is delighted.

"Having competition for places is always healthy because that means players know they have to perform because there are others waiting to take their place," he said.

Yorke had arguably his best game in a Rovers shirt in the 5-2 defeat of Newcastle United while Ostenstad has made a positive contribution since forcing his way back into the first team picture.