BLACKBURN Rovers striker Roque Santa Cruz is hoping his decision to rest his injured knees now will save him from facing months on the sidelines.

The Paraguayan international has withdrawn from his country's World Cup qualifiers against Peru and Uruguay after an MRI scan revealed he was suffering from tendonitis.

Santa Cruz, Rovers' top scorer with five goals in all competitions this term, has been receiving pain-killing injections in his knees for the past couple of weeks.

Reports have suggested that the 26-year-old hitman could be out for up to six weeks but they appear to be unfounded.

The complaint is not a new one for Santa Cruz. Knee injuries plagued his time at Bayern Munich and caused him to miss almost two seasons of action.

But the situation came to a head after Sunday's 2-1 win over Birmingham at Ewood.

Santa cruz said: "I've been forcing the injury in the last few weeks, playing with injections.

"I've reached a point where I had to decide if I should continue but run the risk of having to stop for two or three months, or if I should stop now and see if the injury gets better.

"I'm sad not to be there (with the national team).

"I don't like having to make a decision like this, but in the long term it means that I should be ready for games in November."