ALAN Kelly faces a battle to be fit for Blackburn Rovers Nationwide League clash with Fulham at Ewood on Saturday.

The 31-year-old keeper suffered a groin strain during the Republic of Ireland's Euro 2000 play off game against Turkey on Saturday and has flown back to England for treatment.

And although he has now been ruled out of the Republic's second leg in Turkey on Wednesday, he is hoping to be back in time for the weekend.

"It's not as bad as we first thought," said Kelly.

"I'm going into Brockhall today so I can start having some treatment on it.

"We've got two good physios at Rovers so I'll just have to wait to see what they say.

"But I'm hoping to be fit for Saturday.

"It's come at a bit of a bad time because I've only just forced my way into the side.

"I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed and hope that I make it.

"Obviously, I'm disappointed to be ruled out for the second leg.

"But all I'm concentrating on now is getting fit for Rovers again."

Kelly sustained the injury when he went to clear a Roy Keane back pass but his studs got stuck in the turf, causing his leg to jar.

Former Bury keeper Dean Kiely had to be brought on as his replacement and he will now take over for the second leg in Bursa while Kelly's brother, Gary, has been called up as emergency cover.

And Kelly now believes Mick McCarthy's team now have it all to do if they are to qualify for the European Championships next summer.

Robbie Keane's goal looked to have given them a crucial first leg advantage until Rovers midfielder Lee Carsley handled in the area with six minutes left, allowing Tayfur Havutcu to score from the spot.

"I briefly spoke to Lee after the game and he just said he was trying to get out of the way of it," said Kelly.

"But we are very disappointed at the fact it finished 1-1.

"Turkey are the favourites now because they've got an away goal and that could be priceless.

"It's certainly going to be an intimidating atmosphere for the lads over there.

"But it would have been a great experience so I'm disappointed to be missing out."

Carsley also suffered a bruised Achilles tendon during Saturday's game but it is not serious enough to force him out of the squad for the second leg.

Elsewhere, Callum Davidson missed the Scotland v England clash with a hamstring strain.

Meanwhile, Jack Walker and the Blackburn Rovers board of directors were set to meet today to draw up a short list as the race to find Brian Kidd's successor gathers pace. Former Liverpool duo Roy Evans and Graeme Souness and ex-Bolton boss Colin Todd have already publicly expressed their interest in the post.

But two other names in the frame, Joe Kinnear and Terry Venables, have also been linked with the Aston Villa job over the weekend.

One tabloid newspaper reported the pair have been tapped up by the Midlands club already as the pressure mounts on under-fire Villa boss John Gregory.

Chief executive John Williams will still not be drawn on discussing any individuals concerning the Ewood post, however.

"We've had a lot of applications and the board have been doing their homework so we will pool all our information together and come up with a short list from there," said Williams.

Former Rovers manager Ray Harford has emerged as the front runner in the race to manage Oxford United.

Rovers Under 19s continued their blistering form with a superb 3-0 victory over Liverpool to remain top of their league.

Ben Burgess struck twice and Darren Dunning added the third as Rovers rattled in three goals in the last 20 minutes.

Rovers Under 17s could not match that, though, and went down 2-1, also to Liverpool, with Neil Danns scoring their consolation.

Peter White, recovering at home from surgery at Blackburn Royal Infirmary, would like to thank everyone for their best wishes and get well messages.

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