STRIKER Egil Ostenstad is out of tomorrow's Worthington Cup tie at Portsmouth.

And manager Brian Kidd is set to ring the changes as six other players are also doubtful for the trip.

Craig Short and Lee Carsley have both been hit by a virus while Jason Wilcox and Simon Grayson suffered knocks in the 2-0 win over Tranmere.

Kevin Gallacher, who was left out of the 16 on Saturday, is also doubtful with a groin injury and so Nathan Blake, who scored after coming on as a sub for Rovers' first home win of the season, is expected to start.

Ostenstad has painful shin and ankle injuries and his absence could have let Gallacher back in to the second round first leg tie against Division One rivals Portsmouth.

But Blake is now a safe bet to start.

Kidd at least has cover for his strikers but, with midfielder David Dunn also taking a similar knock to shin and ankle in a physical battle against Tranmere, the manager could have problems in that area.

Rovers failed to shine on Saturday but at least they kept another clean sheet and claimed their first home win since last March. The game also produced first goals of the season for Ashley Ward and Blake, who scored a real solo effort and believes better times lie ahead for both himself and the club after he has put recent injury problems behind him. "At the moment, the side is not playing with a lot of confidence. But that's all we need," he said.

"There will come a time when teams will feel they have lost the game even before they get here. That's the kind of feeling we want.

"I think we have the squad and the players to do it, it's just getting the results together.

"Winning will breed confidence and we will get back to where we were."

Blake has had to recover from surgery at the end of last season but believes he is ready to show what he can do.

"It's the first-ever operation I have had and it was worrying in a sense. I knew it was going to take time to come back from," he said. "But over the past couple of weeks I have been finding my form. I played well for Wales and did well in the reserves. I have scored a few goals like that before. I knew if Ashley had taken the ball he would have been offside and it was never my intention to give it to him.

"Once I got the ball and turned I could see the gap and it's a nice feeling to score at home.

"When I first signed things were difficult.

"We had a struggling side, low on confidence and you just seem to get sucked down with it."

"It's difficult to play above yourself when the team is not playing too well. Then of course I got injured."

Blake scored three times for Rovers last season but all three were in away games. This was his first strike at Ewood and, he hopes, the first of many.

The under-19 Academy team maintained their 100 per cent record with a 2-0 win at Huddersfield on Saturday.

Ben Burgess, who was playing his first game since being injured in last season's under-17 play-off final, scored one of their goals with Jon Douglas getting the other.

No joy, however, for the under-17s who were beaten 5-2 at home by Leeds. Neil Danns scored both Rovers' goals.

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