Brett Emerton is set to miss all of January for the Blackburn Rovers because of the 2011 Asian Cup.
The midfielder will be in the Australian squad for the Asian Football Confederations premier football event, to be held in Qatar, commencing on January 7 and will be unavailable for some very important matches for the Lancashire club.
However, FIFA regulations state that a player must be released by his club 14 days before a tournament starts indicating that Emerton will link up with the Socceroos on Christmas Eve and will then miss up to 10 Premier League matches.
But reports emanating from England suggest that Football Federation Australia are unlikely to impose the two week rule, allowing the 31-year old to be available for the Boxing Day clash with Stoke City and the December 28 trip to West Bromwich Albion.
