ASHLEY Ward and Garry Flitcroft were heading for home early today as Blackburn Rovers' annual pre-season tour jinx struck again.

Neither player was expected to be fit enough to turn out in Rovers' two remaining games here in Norway - against top club Lillestrom tonight and Second Division side Fredrikstad on Wednesday.

So manager Brian Kidd decided both would be better off continuing their pre-season build-up and rehabilitation at Brockhall.

Ward has a foot injury after taking a kick on the instep in training, while Kidd feels that Flitcroft, out since last October with a knee injury, is still not ready to be thrown into the hurly-burly of match action.

"We are sending them home early obviously as a precaution," said Kidd today as he pondered his team plans for tonight's game.

"There didn't seem to be any reaction after Ashley got a whack on his foot and we thought he would recover in time to get at least one game over here.

"But that is not going to be possible.

"As for Garry, he is clearly still a bit short of being ready to play again so he is going back too.

"It would be pointless keeping them both here when they would be better off at Brockhall." It will be particularly disappointing for Flitcroft who hoped to be playing as soon as possible after taking time to recover from knee surgery.

But it is simply a sign of the times for Rovers and their regular misfortune during pre-season trips.

Last year's build-up was, arguably, the worst-ever in terms of injuries for the club and their problems show few signs of improving.

"I can't believe what's happened injury-wise before I came and in the seven months since I joined the club," said Kidd.

"It's just one thing after another, but we'll have to get on with it and I certainly have no complaints about the way the players have been working in training.

"We had another double session yesterday and they put everything into it.

"Most of our problems are a hangover from last season."

Five senior players had to be left behind when Rovers travelled to Scandinavia and opened their account with a creditable 1-1 draw against Swedes IFK Gothenburg last Thursday.

Now Kidd has lost two more from the 22-man squad who travelled.

Just to complicate matters one or two players, including Matt Jansen and Darren Peacock have complained of a stomach bug at the team's Fredrikstad base; Peacock being confined to bed last night.

So the manager was forced to delay his selection for tonight's game in the Arasen Stadium. On a brighter note, Kevin Gallacher could be fit to play his first match after missing out on Thursday because of an infected blister.

That should solve any striking problems but Kidd's resources are still very stretched in midfield.

"It doesn't look as though Lee Carsley or David Dunn are going to get much of a break because of our shortage of midfield players and that concerns me as well," said the manager.

"We'll have to see what we can do and, hopefully, we will not lose anyone else."

Two former Rovers players Henning Berg and Lars Bohinen used to be with Lillestrom, who are one of the best Norweigan sides and have been a force for some time.

They are currently among the pack of clubs chasing the championship and are hopeful of a Champions' League place next year, with a UEFA Cup spot at the very least.

As they have a league game to play later this week, they are expected to start with their strongest side and then make several substitutions.

Rovers shuffled their team to play with three centre backs in the first half against Gothenburg and may well change once again from their recognised 4-4-2 formation in order to use their remaining resources in the best possible way.

Meanwhile, Nottingham Forest have agreed a fee of around £3million for one-time Rovers target Riccardo Scimeca from Aston Villa.

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