John Eustace has alleviated fears over Sam Szmodics' injury scare at Accrington Stanley.

Blackburn Rovers' star attacker was withdrawn a minute before half-time after a challenge in the right channel. He was treated on the pitch before going straight down the tunnel.

Szmodics would've come off at half-time anyway but concerns were raised when he was seen leaving The Wham Stadium in a protective boot.

However, Eustace is hopeful that the injury isn't serious and that is just a precaution. Rovers will assess him in the coming days.

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"It was a bit of a naughty tackle on him and his leg has bruised," Eustace told The Lancashire Telegraph.

"It could've been a lot worse. “Sammie seems fine in there. He’s hobbling around a little bit. Fortunately, I think he'll be fine."

Szmodics responded to a supporter on social media on Saturday night, confirming it was a precaution. He wrote: "All good, don't panic."

Arnor Sigurdsson, Harry Leonard, Zak Gilsenan and Ryan Hedges were the other absentees on Saturday. All four players missed the end of last season due to injury.

Sigurdsson is fully recovered but only returned for pre-season on Monday after being granted extra leave due to the June internationals. They decided he wasn't ready to be involved.

It's bad news for Harry Leonard, who has suffered a setback in his recovery. He missed the last three months of the season with a back issue and is now out for another couple of weeks.

Gilsenan and Hedges are all still working on their recovery. The latter isn't expected to be involved in any matches until later in the month after a long lay-off.

"All of those players are coming back from injuries," he said.

"Siggy has only been back for a couple of days, it was a bit too early for him.

"Ryan is doing really well, he's been in and out of the group. Everyone is making good progress.

“Zak has only just joined back in with the group. He’ll be joining back in with the first team group on Monday and hopefully we can get some really good minutes in the first team for him to showcase what he’s all about.

"I know Zak’s an excellent young player and I’m really looking forward to seeing him perform with us."

He added: “Harry has unfortunately had a bit of a setback with an injury, so we’re just assessing that, but he’ll be out for a few weeks. It’s frustrating for everyone, but it’s part of being a footballer. He’s done well to come back from his initial injury last season and he’ll be fine coming back from this small setback.