Alebiosu and Cantwell fit but 12 still out for Rovers

Blackburn Rovers right-back Ryan Alebiosu and captain Todd Cantwell are fit for Saturday's Lancashire derby at Preston North End - but head coach Tony Mowbray says 12 players are still unavailable. Alebiosu and Cantwell have returned to full training after they both went off in the 0-0 draw at Lincoln City on Tuesday. But following Tom Atcheson's red card against the Imps, Rovers are left with just one fit senior centre-back to face the Lilywhites, with Hayden Carter and Scott Wharton still out injured, while those who missed the trip in midweek also remain out. Despite an early-season injury crisis, Mowbray said he is "pretty relaxed" and insisted he will be able to field a "really competitive" team at Deepdale (12:30 BST). "We need to get some of these lads back over the next month or so and then I'll be even more comfortable," the 62-year-old told BBC Radio Lancashire. "We're putting what I feel is a pretty strong team out with 12 injuries as well. "I know it's not ideal to have so many injuries to so many players that could make a difference to the team, but that's not going to be the case all season." Mowbray said the speed of the modern game has become "so much quicker", which could be contributing to more injuries at every club. "It feels unusual to have so many people down," Mowbray added. "There's lots of work being done behind the scenes regarding the medical and the sports science of how the training's looking, what we are doing, are we training too much? "Is it just the volume of games - literally a game every three days for three weeks? "That's what we're in the middle of at the moment - seven games in 21 days. And so my frustration as a coach is that we're not being able to train the team. "We can't work on anything because you finish a game, you recover. And then you've got one day before you play the next game and so basically you're using video footage to try to get the gameplan across to the team."