Blackburn coach Tony Parkes admits the Lancashire club cannot afford to rest any of their stars for tonight's League Cup quarter-final against Arsenal because the rewards are too big.

Arsenal will rotate their vast squad for the trip to Ewood Park and still be considered favourites to reach the last four. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger rests Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, Dennis Bergkamp, Sol Campbell, Lauren, Ashley Cole, Ray Parlour and Fredrik Ljungberg.

But leaving out high-profile players is an option Rovers cannot consider as they bid to reach the semi-finals for only the third time in their history.

"We won't be resting anyone," Parkes said. "It's the last eight of the competition and we want to stay in there. If we can get to the final then it's big stuff for us. We need to get through. It's unfortunate we have had to play this tie so soon after a tiring Premier League game with Leeds on Sunday, but that's the way it is. Arsenal also had to play at the same time, so it's the same for both of us."

Parkes readily accepts that Arsenal have more resources available. "We'll be playing our strongest side, but I will say that Arsenal probably have a much bigger squad in depth than us. They can make changes and still put out an excellent side - that's the advantage they have over us."

Stig Inge Bjornebye, who is 32 today, is out with a calf problem while fellow defender Lucas Neill is cup-tied. Manager Graeme Souness has added Craig Hignett, Martin Taylor and Damien Johnson to the squad which faced Leeds.

Souness said: "The reasons for staying in the competition are obvious. You get into Europe if you win it and a good run means there are financial benefits."

In tonight's other quarter-final, Tottenham face Bolton at White Hart Lane. Tottenham missed the cutting edge provided by former England striker Les Ferdinand in Saturday's surprise loss to Charlton, and Hoddle is awaiting a final fitness verdict on Ferdinand's ankle and Christian Ziege's foot before deciding on his team.

Bolton manager Sam Allardyce has tended to rotate his squad for league and cup games and is likely to make changes from the side that lost to Derby last Saturday. The likes of Colin Hendry, Nicky Southall, Jermaine Johnson and Akinori Nishizawa could all get a run-out in London.

Allardyce said: "The team has been changed on a regular basis up until this point in the cup, so I've got no problems doing that again. It's a good chance to have a look at players who want to play in the Premiership."

Allardyce freely admits he is more concerned about staying in the Premiership than getting into Europe.