ROVERS manager Ray Harford today shrugged off reports that Chris Sutton is an injury worry for the start of the season.

The £5 million striker, who will be expected to fill the goalscoring void left by Alan Shearer's departure to Newcastle, missed a hastily-arranged closed-door game against Manchester City yesterday.

Reports suggested Sutton had aggravated last season's ankle injury in pre-season training and would be struggling to make the big kick-off.

But Harford insisted that Sutton's omission from yesterday's team was purely precautionary. Gary Flitcroft and Tim Flowers didn't play either so nothing should be read into the fact that Chris didn't play," he said.

"They haven't done as much training as the others. It was just a precaution."

Harford is clearly pinning his hopes on the former Norwich City striker making a spectacular return to first team action for the new season.

This is even more imperative with Shearer now gone and a guarantee of at least 30 goals a season gone with him.

Much responsibility for grabbing those goals now rests on Sutton's shoulders - hardly the ideal circumstances for him to be returning to the first 11.

But he has been grafting hard to regain match fitness and will be eager to accept the challenge.

Rovers defeated City 4-1 at Brockhall after Alan Ball's men had to cancel a planned trip to China.

Matty Holmes, Graham Fenton. Niklas Gudmundsson and Billy McKinlay were the Blackburn goalscorers. Nicky Summerbee scored a consolation for City.

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