ELLIOTT Bennett says Blackburn Rovers are moving in to a six game ‘mini league’ looking to avoid what would be a ‘massive failure’ in relegation.

Rovers remain a point from safety and Bennett admits it’s a ‘horrible’ feeling being in the lower reaches of the table but says it’s a situation that Rovers must meet head on, starting with tomorrow’s home game against Barnsley (3pm).

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“It’s like a mini league now, six games to go and we have to go out there and get more points than the ones around us,” the midfielder said.

“When you have success it’s fantastic and you get all the pats on the back but the fear of failure is much bigger than the feeling you get when you succeed.

“If we go down this season it’s a massive, massive failure for a football club of this size and the players we’ve got here.

“Going down is something that you don’t want to think about but we are where we are and it’s a six game shoot-out to get out of it and I certainly don’t want to be part of a failure.

 “It’s horrible, it’s not a place that anyone wants to be, especially because I pride myself on winning and it hurts when we lose.

“We have lost far too many games this season which is why we find ourselves in the position we’re in.

“We can’t dwell on it now, we have six games to go, and the more games we win the better chance we have of staying up.”

Bennett scored his fourth long range strike of 2017 on Tuesday but couldn’t stop Rovers from falling to their second successive defeat at Reading.

Rovers have faced sides in the top 10 in each of their last five fixtures, four of which have been away from home, as they prepare to welcome 13th-placed Barnsley to Ewood Park.

On the tough run, Bennett said: “Brighton beat us and went top of the league, Reading beat us and went third, we are where we are because we haven’t won enough games this season and they are where they are because they have won more than their fair share.

“But we have been there and not disgraced ourselves by any stretch of the imagination and I thought second half at Reading we deserved something from the game.

“We have also played Norwich, Fulham, Preston, all these teams who are flying high in the league and should have had more points but it doesn’t matter what you could have had, should have had, we have to focus on Barnsley and the next six games and see what happens.”

The 28-year-old has become a regular since the turn of the year after enduring a frustrating opening five months of the campaign.

Now back in the team, Bennett is hoping to play his part in keeping Rovers in the Championship.

“I am playing now which is the main thing,” he said. “It’s been really frustrating, not just for me but the football club, no-one wants to be in the situation we’re in.

“I got injured on the opening day, found myself on the sidelines and from then it’s been difficult to get back in.

“Rightly or wrongly whether I should have been in, that was the manager’s choice at the time and you just have to work and train as hard as you can and wait for your opportunity.

“Thankfully I’ve played a few more games recently and whether it’s from the start or the bench, whatever the gaffer decides, hopefully I can play a role in helping the club.”