MICHAEL Appleton insists he won’t panic about Blackburn Rovers’ recent Championship slump after admitting he was under no illusion about the size of the job when he was appointed.

Rovers go into tomorrow’s East Lancashire derby at Ewood Park without a win in six league games but, despite attracting criticism from sections of supporters, Appleton insists he isn’t feeling the pressure.

The Rovers boss became the club’s third manager this season, when he was named as Henning Berg’s successor in January, and is adamant someone has to be given time to turn fortunes around at Ewood Park.

He said: “The job isn’t bigger than I thought. As an outsider looking in I probably had the same perspective as a lot of people looking in have. “Being in here now, regardless of the last six or seven games, I would like to think what is going on behind the scenes in terms of the infrastructure and how we are trying to build relationships within the club, we are definitely going in the right direction.

“I knew it was a longevity one, for me if you want long term success you might need short term failure. If you get short term success a lot of the time it leads to long term failure.

“I very rarely panic and get concerned. I can’t control what decisions people make above me, I don’t worry about it, as far as I am concerned I have the game to prepare for.

“I went into a couple of games at Portsmouth with one sub. So they are the type of scenarios I have been in.

“When you talk about difficult circumstances and how big jobs are, this is a huge job here let’s not make any bones about it.

“But ultimately someone, somewhere has to be given time to do it. Whether that is me or someone else, I don’t make those decisions, but ultimately someone, somewhere has to be given the time to do it.”