Callum Brittain and Harry Leonard will both play for Blackburn Rovers' Under-21s on Thursday night as they step up their recovery from injury.

Brittain has missed the last five Championship games with a knee injury but returned to training over the international break. Rovers' scheduled 'bounce' game was cancelled during that period and so he will instead play against Benfica in the Premier League International Cup.

Leonard will also feature having played 75 minutes for Mike Sheron's side just before the two-week pause. Neither have been ruled out of facing Swansea City though it seems unlikely.

"Everyone has come back fit and well," Eustace said.

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"To have five players away representing their country is great. We have good competition for places and we're proud of those players that went away. To have them back fully fit is a bonus. 

"Owen is back and he's learned from his mistake and he'll be back in the squad which is great. Picks has done very well considering he's been ill as well in the last few games.

"It's been good to have Callum (Brittain) back in the group too. He's a top performer at this level so to have him back involved is good.

"Callum has been out for nearly seven weeks so we have to protect him and look after him. He will play 45 minutes tonight (Thursday) for the Under-21s which I think is the right thing to do.

"Then we'll see where he's at in terms of Saturday. We have a lot of games coming up so whilst we have the likes of Hayden, Leo and Joe who can play there, we don't want to rush Callum and get him injured."

"Harry will also play for the 21s tonight. There is no rush for him to come back, he's been out for six or seven months and we have a squad of players who have done very well.

"It's important when he is back, he doesn't break down and we protect him. We look forward to seeing him play tonight and we will see where that takes him."

Eustace may turn to Joe Rankin-Costello at right-back after he impressed at Plymouth as a substitute. It was the first time that he's featured in that role for the current head coach but something that hasn't been ruled out in the future.

"I think Joe is a very talented footballer and I have used him in a number of different positions since I came here," he said.

"Joe is a very good player and we're fortunate he's here. He did very well when he came on in the last match. We were on the front foot and I felt like the team most likely to win the game.

"Joe is a talented footballer and I think he can play a number of different positions."