BLACKBURN boss Graeme Souness today insisted Rovers have the necessary strength in depth to cope with a potential fixture pile-up after cruising into the fifth round of the FA Cup at the weekend.
Andy Cole's fourth goal in six games secured a 1-0 win at First Division promotion-chasers Millwall to set-up a mouthwatering meeting with Middlesbrough in the last 16.
The result came hot on the heels of Rovers' Worthington Cup success over Sheffield Wednesday last week.
But Souness is adamant he has the resources to cope with the extra demands further Cup success is likely to place on his players as he switches his attentions back to the bread and butter of the Premiership.
"If you're getting injuries then it suddenly becomes a major problem but if you're not, then you should be able to handle playing twice a week as long as you look after yourself," said Souness. "I didn't look after myself and I still handled it so I think it's a psychological problem as much as anything.
"If you're right in the head then you can handle playing Wednesday-Saturday, Wednesday-Saturday no problem.
"Last year we had to protect some of the players in the cups because the priority was to get out of the First Division.
"But things have changed now. We've now got a stronger squad with better players.
"As each game comes along we'll give it a go because the priority is to try and win every game you're involved in."
With Rovers already through to one final, they took a giant step towards another courtesy of Cole's goal three minutes from time.
But Souness was gracious enough to admit it was far from plain sailing against a Millwall side clearly fired up to cause an upset in front of the TV cameras.
"We always knew it was going to be tough because you don't go to Millwall and get an easy game," said Souness.
"And the way their supporters were, I thought I was back in Scotland at one point.
"So it was different and unique but I thought it was a good cup tie which could have gone either way.
"Brad had to make one excellent save at the end of the first half and another at the start of the second but, overall, I thought we had the better of the chances and most of the ball, so I felt we deserved to win it on the day."
Now Rovers face a testing trip to Middlesbrough in round five following last night's draw.
But, with big guns like Manchester United, Leeds and Liverpool already eliminated, the competition would appear to be wide open.
"Anything can happen in cup football," said Souness. "At the end of the day, we're only in the fifth round and it could still finish up being an Arsenal-Chelsea final.
"So there's a lot of football still to be played before we can start thinking about that."
Meanwhile, Irish midfielder Alan Mahon led the tributes to Cole after the former Manchester United star paid off another chunk of his club record transfer fee with a priceless finish.
"That's what you pay the money for," said Mahon.
"He's a fantastic finisher and you could see that in training on the first day he came.
"No disrespect to the other lads, but we needed someone like Andy because we weren't scoring goals before he came in up front.
"Now, he's given us that extra dimension which has brought some umph to the club and it's up to us to keep supplying him with the ammunition."
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