BRIAN Kidd expressed his fears that young players such as Damien Duff could suffer from "burn-out" because of the demands from the Republic of Ireland as well as the Premiership.

Duff, now an established member of the Ewood first-team squad, is not only a regular for the Irish senior international team but also has to travel to Nigeria next week to participate in the World Under-20 Championships.

Not only will his absence hit Rovers in their relegation battle, but he will not be able to benefit from any kind of a break.

Kidd has been careful to try to rest his Ewood youngsters whenever possible, pulling David Dunn out of the heat of battle for Saturday's game against Wimbledon.

But his efforts can be undermined by the pressures from the international administrators.

Unlike England, the Irish have insisted on taking 'seniors' who qualify to the youth championships.

"I wouldn't want to pull anybody out of internationals, I think it's great representing your country," said a clearly-concerned Kidd.

"But we have now lost Damien Duff which we can ill afford in our situation.

"We won't see him for a while.

"Looking at the group, he's certainly going to get four games, because I think they will qualify.

"So it's going to be at least the middle of April (before he's back). "And how he's going to come back for our demands, God only knows. He's only a young kid.

"Yet he's also first choice for the national team.

"He'll come back and then end up playing in the second week in June (in internationals). What rest is the kid going to get?

"Two years ago he was in Malaysia and that's supposed to be the development of young players.

"If you are not involved with the first team or your senior squad you can understand it but that kid is going to be burnt out."

Kidd was no doubt pleased that the Ireland's game with Macedonia in Skopje was postponed because of the unrest in the region.

That at least spared Duff from one gruelling trip and gave Jason McAteer a chance to return to training at Brockhall.

Blackburn's Matt Jansen played for an hour as the England Under-21 side romped to a 5-0 win over Poland at The Dell last night.

Frank Lampard and Lee Bowyer both scored twice along with Lee Hendrie.

Former Rovers striker James Beattie played the full 90 minutes.

Rovers' Premiership clash at Arsenal on Tuesday, April 6 (kick-off 7.45) is an all-ticket affair.

All tickets are priced at £16 and are on open sale but will not be available on the day of the game.

Rovers fans will be housed in the Clock Stand behind one of the goals.

Tickets can be bought direct from the Ewood Park ticket office, by postal application with letter, cheque or credit-card number and SAE or by credit card application on FreePhone 0321 10 10 10.

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