ROY Hodgson is facing a crisis in the centre of defence.

Stephane Henchoz had to be substituted during last night's draw at Leicester which left Blackburn Rovers holding onto third place in the Premiership and their unbeaten away record.

The Swiss international suffered facial and back injuries during the first half of the Filbert Street clash.

And Rovers boss Hodgson, who surprisingly switched striker Chris Sutton to fill the gap instead of blooding Norwegian Tore Pedersen, is anxiously awaiting the doctor's verdict.

But he also stressed that Sutton's switch to defence was strictly temporary.

"It's not looking very good for Stephane Henchoz," was the manager's first reaction.

"He has a broken nose and a strained back but we will not know the extent of the injury until we have a look at him later today.

"It was obviously so bad that he couldn't continue in the second half.

"I had to decide whether to throw Tore Pedersen, who hasn't much experience of English football in general and certainly not the type of English football we saw last night, into a game like that.

"Or whether to put Chris Sutton, who is much more experienced at dealing with the long, high ball, at the back. He scored a great goal and I think we missed him up front to be honest. Kevin (Gallacher) has been sick and it wasn't one of his best days.

"But I still think it was the right decision not to throw Tore Pedersen in straight away.

"I think he needs a bit more time with us and a few more games under his belt before you throw him in at half time in a game like that where you have high balls to deal with and a lot of very difficult situations."

Hodgson was clearly happy with how Sutton - playing his 100th full game for the club - adapted to his role in defence, where he has played many times for Norwich and also, occasionally, for Rovers. But he added: "I don't want Chris Sutton playing at the back.

"We have just been a little bit unlucky with the Ian Pearce situation. The news of his transfer came through just two and a half hours before we played Preston. We put in Marlon Broomes and, sure enough, the day the transfer happens, Broomes is injured.

"But I would play Pedersen from the start if necessary. He's up to it, I'm not worried about that.

"If it had been 1-0 at half time, I might even have had second thoughts. But being 1-1 and knowing it was going to be a bit of a bombardment I didn't want to put him in for his first game and for him to be turned by Heskey or someone else and maybe be responsible for a goal.

"Because that would have been a bad start to his career with us.

"I had a word with Chris and asked him if he fancied it and he said - yes I'll do it.

"But he won't stay there. It could happen within a game when we are under the cosh and we need his height and strentgh and experience but it won't be a policy."

With Broomes suffering from a knee injury and Rovers awaiting the verdict on Henchoz, they could be down to two senior central defenders in Colin Hendry and Pedersen, following the sale of Pearce, Henning Berg and Nicky Marker. The likes of Adam Reed and Graham Coughlan have not played in the Premiership and Hodgson will be hoping for some good news about Henchoz before Sunday's clash with Coventry.

Meanwhile, Rovers are set to be involved in the tie of the round, once they have completed the formality of knocking Preston out of the Coca-Cola Cup at Deepdale on Tuesday.

Last night's third round draw sends the winners to Chelsea and that will mean two of the Premiership's highest-scoring sides in opposition.

Hodgson has made it clear that the Coca-Cola Cup comes third on the list of his priorities but it will be a big game and he will undoubtedly want to score a few points against another of the frontrunners in the title race.

Chelsea have also made a flying start and Rovers could hardly have been given a tougher draw. There are no replays this season, so, if necessary, penalties will be used to decide the outcome.

The game will be played at Stamford Bridge in the week beginning Monday, October 13, and could well be chosen for TV.

Rovers Reserves take on Stoke City at Ewood tonight in a Pontin's League Premier Division fixture (kick-off 7pm).

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