PAUL Ince has thrown down the gauntlet to Blackburn Rovers’ forgotten men – insisting a host of first-team shirts are still very much “up for grabs”.

A mounting injury list will give several players another chance to stake their claim at the Hawthorns this afternoon, with the Rovers boss challenging them to seize the moment.

Ince has been unable to name an unchanged side since the 1-1 draw with Hull in August and, while frustrated by the walking wounded, admits it has left him with plenty still to decide.

Morten Gamst Pederson and Jason Roberts are just two players in that category at West Bromwich Albion this afternoon – with points to prove for different reasons.

Pedersen has been urged to re-establish himself on the left of midfield, having just returned from a spell out of the squad, while Roberts will be desperate to banish memories of his Bolton blunder.

Ince said: “I said to the lads after Wednesday, as far as I am concerned we have not got a settled side.

“There are still places up for grabs. Some people are grabbing those places, other people aren’t. So they all have a chance of getting that shirt for the first 11 and it is down to them then.

“Some people have to come in and cement their places in the side. Once they have done that then it does not give me that headache of picking between 16, 17 players.

“I have got five or six on my list now who I would say are going to play every week. I need another five like that now.”

A regular for the first six games of the campaign, Pedersen’s start against Aston Villa on Wednesday was only his second from the last six games as last season’s dip in form carried over into this campaign.

Ince though has rubbished previous suggestions of an imminent exit and has tipped the Norwegian to bounce back even stronger.

He said: “I have taken him out of the frame for the last couple of weeks and there were signs on Wednesday that he was starting to improve.

“Players do have a loss of form and you have to be honest and say that has happened with Morts.

“But I was pleased with what I saw against Villa and it looked as though he was slowly, slowly getting back to his old self.

“That is where I have learnt from people like Alex Ferguson.

"You can try and play players into form, but that is hard, so Alex used to take people out, not even put them on the bench and they would come back rejuvenated.”

With Roque Santa Cruz sidelined for a fortnight with a calf injury, Jason Roberts could be handed the lone striking role today, having not featured since a missed sitter at the Reebok Stadium earlier this month.

The former West Brom man started the season in fine form but, after stuttering to a halt, Ince believes today’s trip to the Midlands could the perfect time for Roberts to get going again.

“It is one of those,” said Ince. “Jason gets his goal against Bolton and it is like anything, you score the winner and you play the next game.

“I just feel at the moment we are still trying to find the right format.

"I think, especially playing away, I like to play 4-5-1, I feel that works well for us and when you look at most of the teams, they are starting to play that.

“I don’t want to keep harping back on something that happened two weeks ago but as a player you want to rectify it asap.

“He might have a chance of doing that on Saturday. It is his old club and I am sure he will be keen to be involved in some capacity.

"I think you always want to play against your old team and you will always be up for it.”