Blackburn Rovers manager Tony Mowbray says the club will be forced to make late checks on Ryan Nyambe, Stewart Downing and Danny Graham ahead of their clash with Stoke City on Saturday.

Nyambe was forced off late in Rovers' 1-0 win over Brentford on Wednesday night, and the right-back is now set for a fitness check ahead of this Saturday's trip to the Bet365 Stadium.

Speaking to The Lancashire Telegraph about his side's injury situation going into the weekend, Mowbray said: “The players have some knocks and niggles.

“Nyambe, we have to wait and see. He has his thigh and hamstring protected. We’ll have to decide whether we take a risk with Ryan or not."

If Nyambe does not feature, then it is likely that captain Elliott Bennett, who has spent much of the season playing at right-back, and replaced Nyambe from the bench on Wednesday, will regain his place in the starting XI.

Assessing the chances of Downing - who played the full 90 minutes at left-back against Brentford - and Graham - who was substituted late on in that win - featuring against the Potters, the Blackburn boss continued: “Stewy Downing is 35, Danny Graham is 34, they put a huge workload in. We’ll have to see how their bodies are feeling because sometimes those lads don’t do all the training the other lads do.

“You have to manage footballers and try and re-fuel, top them up and ready to go again.”

One player who will not feature against Stoke is defender Derrick Williams, who picked up a calf strain while on international duty with the Republic of Ireland earlier in the month.

Offering a timescale on when Williams could return to action, Mowbray revealed: “Derrick isn’t in contention. He hasn’t joined in with the group as yet. He’ll have to have a full training session to have any chance.

“Hopefully he will have a chance for Derby next week."

Blackburn go into the game with the Potters 13th in the Championship table, having won back to back home games over Barnsley and Brentford since the November international break.

The Verdict

This will be something of a cause for frustration for Blackburn.

Having put in one of if not their best performances of the season against Brentford, you imagine they will have wanted to keep things as similar as possible for the match with Stoke this weekend.

With Nyambe having impressed considerably against Brentford, you do have to feel somewhat for the Nambian here, given he looked to have staked a strong claim for a more regular run in the starting XI going forward.

You imagine Rovers will also be desperate to see Downing and Graham available to feature at some point on Saturday, given the positive influence the experience of the duo has had on the rest of the side both from the bench against Barnsley and start against Brentford in the past two games.