ROQUE Santa Cruz will have a scan on a calf injury today to deepen Rovers’ gloom after a cruel 3-2 defeat at Villa Park last night.

The Paraguayan striker was pulled out of last night’s Premier League clash minutes before kick-off, after he felt a reoccurrence of an old injury, and is now classed as a major doubt for Saturday’s crunch trip to West Bromwich Albion.

A dynamic away display against an in-form Villa should have lifted Rovers spirits but a mixture of bad lack, poor finishing and shoddy defending left them without a win for four matches.

Stephen Warnock’s 30th-minute opener was no more than Paul Ince’s men deserved but Luke Young’s 45th-minute equaliser broke Rovers hearts against the run of play.

Gareth Barry and Gabriel Agbonlahor then fired Villa 3-1 ahead, with the hosts' only real chances of the second half, before Brett Emerton brilliantly curled in a consolation in the dying seconds.

Stephen Warnock, Keith Andrews, Brett Emerton and Carlos Villanueva all starred but, as has been the case too often this season, it counted for little.

Rovers assistant boss Ray Mathias, said: "Not many teams come here and play as well as we did and not come away with anything.

"We shot ourselves in the foot. If we could have gone in 1-0 up we would have won the game.

"Unfortunately we did not do the right things. We allowed them to cross the ball and that was that.

"People in the club are too nice with each other. We have to get a bit nastier with each other, on the pitch.

"We can be friends after the game but during it we can be a lot stronger.

"We came to a top five side in the Premier League and outclassed them and outpassed them.

"The only thing we didn't do was defend properly and that is probably why they are higher in the league."

Mathias revealed Santa Cruz was struggling with a calf injury sustained in training earlier this week and insisted he would not be rushed back before he is ready.

Rovers travel to the Hawthorns on Saturday needing a confidence-boosting win, but Mathias insists Santa Cruz will only be leading the line if he is 100 per cent ready.

He said: "Roque had a run this afternoon. He was feeling his calf from training and that reoccurred so we felt not playing him tonight was the right thing to do.

"It is a thing we have to be very careful with. He will get a scan tomorrow and we will see how bad it is. We have to make sure Roque is right.

"We can't afford to play him and lose him for five or six.

"We need to do it right, make sure he is right so he can play 10 games on the run for us. That is what we want Roque Santa Cruz for.