MARK Hughes fears Blackburn Rovers could be the victims of international 'burn-out' when they take on Manchester City tomorrow.

While City boss Stuart Pearce has had two full weeks to prepare his squad for the game, Hughes' preparations have been thrown into turmoil because six of his players have been away on international duty for most of the last fortnight.

As a result, Hughes has called on Premier League chiefs to give clubs like Rovers an extra 24 hours to prepare for matches after international breaks by switching fixtures such as tomorrow's from the Saturday to the Sunday.

"I think there's a case for doing something that," said the Welshman, who was still awaiting the return of some of his international players today.

"When teams play in Europe on a Thursday, they get special dispensation to move their game to a Sunday.

"Why then can't a Premier League club that has a number of players away on international duty over a certain amount - maybe five or six - have the same opportunity to move the game, which would allow the manager to have at least one session with his players?

"At the moment, we're not even getting one session with them so I think it needs to be looked at.

"Obviously, you know when you buy international players that that is the situation, but it can have an impact and, in this case, Manchester City will have an advantage because they've had all their players to work with, rather than seeing them travelling all over the world.

"They are, therefore, likely to be in better shape than us tomorrow, but that still won't stop us from having a good go at them."

Hughes' predicament has been magnified by Lucas Neill and Brett Emerton's involvement in Australia's World Cup play-off with Uruguay.

The pair were due to arrive back from Sydney today, but Hughes has decided that neither player is likely to be in the right mental or physical shape to face City.

However, Craig Bellamy, Morten Gamst Pedersen, Aaron Mokoena and Vratty Gresko are all set to be named in the squad despite their international exertions this week.

"It's really difficult (trying to prepare the team in an international week)," said Hughes.

"There's not that much you can do other than keep the rest of the lads ticking over and maybe give them a couple of days off here and there.

"But, really, you're just hoping all your players are going to come back in the right physical shape to be an option for you at the weekend."

There was some good news for Hughes as he prepares to name his squad.

Robbie Savage, Ryan Nelsen and Michael Gray have trained this week after recovering from injuries and all could start tomorrow.