BRIAN Kidd has now run into a goalkeeper crisis to go with all his other problems as he tries to put together a squad to take on Everton in tomorrow night's crucial relegation clash at Ewood.

The Blackburn Rovers boss, also grappling with a flu bug which is threatening his already severely depleted playing resources, has lost Tim Flowers for the foreseeable future with a pulled muscle in his arm.

And, with Alan Fettis also grounded by a back injury, Rovers have been forced to bring back Anthony Williams from a loan spell at Huddersfield - after he only joined the First Division club at the weekend.

Kidd, who inherited a team cut adrift at the foot of the table when he took charge in December, has helped inspire a revival to give the club a chance of escaping relegation.

But five League and cup games without a win aninjuries and suspensions must have left him wondering just what else can go wrong as he waits and hopes that David Dunn, Nathan Blake and Dario Marcolin can recover quickly from the bug which has struck Brockhall.

Williams, recalled yesterday, will help in the goalkeeping department and will now be on the substitutes' bench against Everton to provide back-up to John Filan, Rovers' only remaining keeper with any Premiership experience.

Flowers, another of the players to have been affected by the flu bug as well, suffered his arm injury in routine training with goalkeeping coach Roy Tunks.

He faces a few weeks on the sidelines though Kidd said the injury was not connected with the shoulder problem which forced the England keeper to have surgery before Christmas and cost him his first team place. Flowers, unhappy at being second choice to Filan, had put in a transfer request which was subsequently rejected by the board.

His latest injury looks as though it will keep him out until after transfer deadline day - the last Thursday in March - so, even if there was to be an unlikely change of heart by the club, that presumably rules out any chance of a move before summer.

Huddersfield had recruited Williams as cover because their only senior keeper, Belgian Nico Vaesen, has been playing under the handicap of a thigh strain.

Their manager Peter Jackson said: "It's disappointing for us but I understand Blackburn's problems."

Already without several players through long-term injuries, plus Marlon Broomes and Chris Sutton, who are suspended, Kidd refuses to complain about the situation but must be wondering just how the club managed to get itself into such a state.

His three months in charge have seen them climb off the bottom of the table but they still have a lot to do to escape and are fielding makeshift sides in some respects.

He would like to sign more new players but also refuses to spend unless he feels it is right.

"I keep looking at players I want but, unfortunately, they are not available," he said.

"We have had people out watching players all over the place.

"It's disappointing but I refuse to compromise my principles. I am a responsible person and I will only do what I think is right for the club."

Rovers are still trying to bring more players in but they do not seem to be making much headway at the moment.

Everton also have one or two problems but nothing like the number of absentees in the Ewood camp. And they can recall Richard Dunne and Michael Ball, the two young players who served a one-match ban at the weekend.

Midfielder Olivier Dacourt is unavailable as he completes a two-match suspension.

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