I SAID a month ago that I feared Blackburn Rovers could send us down when the derby came around, and I still think that could happen on Sunday.

It would be terrible for the Burnley fans if Blackburn were to effectively relegate us by winning at Turf Moor this weekend.

Obviously this is the first time we have been in the Premier League, so we wouldn’t want Blackburn to be able to say they sent us down.

I’m sure there will be banners in the Blackburn end saying ‘Going Down’ and stuff like that.

A victory would be such a big result for Brian Laws and hopefully all the fans will unite behind him and the team on Sunday.

It wasn’t like Blackburn outplayed us last time when they won 3-2 at Ewood Park.

Robbie Blake got that great goal early on, but we conceded two bad goals and Brian Jensen didn’t have his best game.

We know on Sunday that if you make mistakes like that you will get punished in the Premier League.

There were reports after the last game that Blackburn had upset Burnley by celebrating outside of their dressing room, and things like that do just give players even more incentive next time.

It could backfire on Blackburn, but I’m sure with the importance of the game and the crowd behind them the Burnley players will be motivated anyway. If there’s not, there’s something wrong.

I’m sure we will go for it from the start on Sunday because we are at a stage where we need three points from games.

At home we have generally started off well and gone at teams. It’s only really been the last few games when we haven’t.

If we could just get two wins on the bounce that would allow us to gain some ground on other sides.

I think our chances of staying up are pretty slim now, though, after our 1-0 defeat at Wigan.

If we had got six points from the last four games that would have given us chance. But the Wigan result looked like the final nail in the coffin.

We have conceded far too many goals this season, and the fact that we equalled the Premier League record for goals conceded away from home on Saturday is not something the club will be proud of.

But the players won’t be thinking about the league table now. They will be thinking about the next game, which could be the biggest game of some of their lives.

We’ve got to play for pride. The players can’t let their heads go down. You just never know.