JOSH King is poised to hand Blackburn Rovers a fitness boost ahead of the FA Cup quarter-final replay with Liverpool.

King, whose hat-trick in the fifth-round win over Stoke City set up the initial Anfield tie between the teams, has been sidelined for the past seven matches with a hamstring injury.

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But the striker is set to be fit for the return clash at Ewood Park a week tonight after he resumed full training on Monday.

It was the first time that King had trained alongside his team-mates since limping off just four minutes after coming on as a half-time substitute in the home loss to Norwich City on February 24.

And should the 23-year-old come through the rest of this week there is even a chance he could come into contention for Saturday’s trip to Elland Road to take on Leeds United.

Rovers boss Gary Bowyer said: “We’ve had good news on the injury front with Josh King joining in with us for his first full session.

“We’ve got to be sensible as he’s been out for a while so we’ll see how he goes for the rest of the week and then make a decision on whether he will feature against Leeds.”

Bowyer was down to the bare bones for Rovers’ last match before the international break.

He had just 13 fit and available senior outfield players for the 1-0 home defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion on March 21.

But he should have more options to choose from for the Roses showdown with Leeds.

Corry Evans, who missed out against Brighton because of a groin injury, has returned from international duty unscathed, as have Jordan Rhodes and Adam Henley.

John O’Sullivan has shaken off the knock he sustained in the final game of his month-long loan at Barnsley and will come into the squad on Saturday.

And he will be joined in the Rovers party that heads over the Pennines by new boy Paul Taylor, Bowyer’s last permitted loan signing under the rules of the club’s embargo for failing Financial Fair Play.

But the game may come too soon for captain Grant Hanley and Craig Conway who, while making good progress in their recovery from injury, have yet to return to full training.

Rovers’ players were given some time off last week after a run of 13 matches in seven weeks.

And Bowyer believes the break has done them good.

He said: “They were in need of a break given the amount of games that we had and how stretched the squad was.

“Our hands are tied behind our back to an extent because of the embargo and the restriction of the number of loans we could have brought in because of the established player rule.

“We knew the rules wouldn’t allow us to bring in players during the window for money but it also ended up hurting us with the amount we could bring in on loan.

“But the players have come back fresh. We said we’d use the break well and we have done.

“They look ready to go right through until the end of the season now.”