Ron Rivera has said that he expects Steve Smith to be able to play against the New Orleans Saints later today.

The Carolina Panthers wide receiver suffered a dislocated finger during practice this week, preventing him from taking part in Thursday's drills and limiting him on Friday.

The head coach told reporters: "He's got nine other [fingers]. That's the way I look at it. Steve will find a way, believe me. We'll see, but I feel good about him.

"I think we can be pretty good, but we're better with him, obviously. Domenik Hixon can do some really nice things for us, and we've got two young guys that we'd really like to see at some point in [Marvin] McNutt and [Tavarres] King.

"They've been good. There were some really good things happening out there. The guys are excited about what's coming up on Sunday, and I'm fired up for everybody."

Smith has 701 receiving yards and four touchdowns so far this season.