Paul Ince expects Blackburn striker Roque Santa Cruz to be out of action for at least 10 days - but he must still link up with Paraguay.Rovers manager Ince rued his team's "sloppy" defending after Saturday's 4-1 Premier League defeat at West Ham and urged Christopher Samba to sharpen up his man-marking.
However there was also some welcome news when it emerged Santa Cruz would be back in action soon, despite limping off before half-time at Upton Park.
The Rovers frontman damaged an Achilles, but it is not a severe problem and he could be back for Blackburn's first match after the international break, the league clash with Arsenal at Ewood Park on August 13.
Santa Cruz had suffered precisely the same problem in Blackburn's pre-season defeat to Wolves at Molineux but it kept him out for just a matter of days on that occasion, and a short recovery time is anticipated again.
"He will be out for probably 10 days to two weeks," said Ince.
"It is the same injury that he got against Wolves.
"Someone came down on the bottom of his left Achilles."
However, Santa Cruz will still have to fly to Asuncion to be assessed by Paraguay's medical staff ahead of their World Cup qualifiers against Argentina and Venezuela next week.
Team doctor Manuel Aguilar told newspaper La Nacion: "I spoke to Roque after the end of the match and he told me his heel hurts a lot. It's a knock on the left heel.
"However, we'll be able to make a clearer decision when he comes here on Monday.
"The player must attend the national team training because this is how the system works here.
"I also talked to the Blackburn doctor to tell him we will not risk Roque. We'll let them know all the details."
Paraguay, who lead the South American Qualifying Zone on 13 points, face Argentina on Saturday in Buenos Aires before hosting Venezuela three days later.
