STEVE Harkness looks set for his first Ewood appearance as a Blackburn Rovers player in tomorrow night's Worthington Cup second round tie against Portsmouth.

With Rovers leading 3-0 from the first leg at Fratton Park, the second leg should be a formality - even though Portsmouth scored four at Tranmere on Saturday!

But the first-leg advantage does give Ewood boss Brian Kidd the chance to ring the changes again and he is expected to do just that.

In the first match at Fratton, Kidd swapped more than half the side who had played in the previous First Division game, one of his reasons being that he wanted to rest players who had been carrying knocks.

Those who were handed their chance, however, grasped it gratefully to underline the general strength in depth of Rovers' squad.

Harkness, who was signed from Benfica for an initial fee of £400,000, went on during the second half at Portsmouth to make his bow.

He filled a left-sided midfield role but the main purpose was just to get him back in action as he had not played for several months and has had to complete a pre-season training programme at Ewood since his move.

Tomorrow's game seems an ideal fixture to give him his first full match and Kidd will be considering that, along with several other possibilities. Goalkeeper Alan Kelly - excellent at Portsmouth - could be given another game and Damien Johnson could be back in the picture.

With central defender Craig Short having strained a hamstring, it might be opportune to give youngster Martin Taylor a first senior match of the season and Wayne Gill could be handed his second start in just over a week after waiting so long for his debut.

Gill did well enough at Pompey to earn a place on the subs bench at West Bromwich Albion when Rovers returned to League action on Saturday.

Kidd will want to get the balance right between who to rest and who to play while, at the same time, ensuring Rovers go through without any mishaps.

They have carved out an encouraging four-game unbeaten run and would like that to continue.

"We'll probably be able to give a game to a few again but we are still in a position where we have to be careful," said the Rovers boss.

"It's a balancing act."

Kidd declined to attend Saturday's post-match Press conference at West Brom, but he reflected on the game today, stopping short of having a go at referee Clive Wilkes for his refusal to award a blatant penalty.

Instead the manager concentrated on his own players and explained: "We are in a situation at this stage of the season where, in a lot of leagues, it's matter of digging out results. "And, once we get ourselves into a winning position, we have to learn how to hold on and win games.

"There are ways of playing."

He also agreed with coach Brian McClair's verdict that the team had not done enough in a first half dominated by West Brom.

"We just weren't determined enough. Sometimes, it's a fixed bayonets job," he said.

Lee Fitzpatrick has joined Hartlepool on a month's loan to get some League experience and went on for them as a late substitute on Saturday.

There is a likelihood that Rovers and the other relegated clubs from the Premiership, Nottingham Forest and Charlton, will be involved if the Premier League has to foot a hefty bill over their continuing row over the television consultancy agreement with former BSkyB executives Sam Chisholm and David Chance.

Those three were, of course, party to any agreements, while the newly-promoted trio were not.

Chief executive John Williams would only say: "We continue to have dialogue with the Premier League and we are totally aware of the situation."

Rovers reserve game at home to Sunderland, originally scheduled for tonight, has been postponed and rearranged for February 8.

Gary Croft's £800,000 move from Rovers to Ipswich Town was completed mid-morning today.

The deal had been agreed at the weekend but was delayed until the usual medical tests had been completed. Croft was suffering from a shoulder injury but that did not prove a barrier to the transfer.

Croft has not figured in Kidd's plans this season and the manager said: "I thought it was right for him. It was a wonderful opportunity and you have to look at both sides of these things."

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