STEVE Kean has assured fans that there is ‘absolutely no chance’ Blackburn Rovers will be relegated this season as they prepare for their crunch clash with Wigan on the first anniversary of the club’s takeover by Venky’s.

Rovers currently stand second bottom of the Premier League, four points adrift of safety, as they make the trip to the DW Stadium this afternoon to face bottom club Wigan in a game Kean has told his players they have to win.

The match comes a year to the day since Indian poultry firm Venky’s completed their takeover of the club from the Walker Trust.

Events since then have left many fans deeply concerned about the possibility of Rovers slipping out of the top flight, having avoided the relegation on the last day of last season.

But Kean has insisted that his side’s performances so far this term have shown that Rovers have too much ability to go down.

“We won’t get relegated, absolutely no chance,” the Scot said, with a succinctness that suggested he had no doubts in his mind.

Rovers’ current league position, after only six points from their first 11 games, has increased the dissatisfaction among fans over the club’s progress since Venky’s took over – with protests that started two months ago still ongoing.

But Kean thinks the owners’ reign would be viewed differently if Rovers had got the results he insists they deserve.

“Probably,” he said.

“You look back on the games, were we good enough for a point against Chelsea? Yes. Should we have got three against Norwich? Yes. Should we have got a point against Tottenham? Yes.

“You add up all those points and we’re sitting halfway up the league.

“But I think the genuine fans who go every week, the ones who go week in week out home and away, can see how we’re playing and they know we’re not in a nice position at the moment.

“I think we know as well, as players and staff, that we should be a bit higher.

“We would have rather been in a top 10 position now but I think our performances have merited being in that position.”

A number of protests against Kean and the owners have taken place over the past two months, with some supporters this week laying flowers by the Jack Walker statue at Ewood Park - declaring it was to mark ‘the death of connection fans feel with the club’.

But Kean says he has spoken to many other fans who want the protests to stop.

“Any fan who looks at just the table in a flat fashion can say we’re not in a good position,” he said.

“But I think the amount of games we’ve played well in and should have picked up points, and the manner in which we’re playing, it’s not a case where we’re getting smashed every week.

“The travelling fans have been excellent, there has been a very small section at home who have been a bit negative.

“But we speak to people in the village (Brockhall) and around the training ground, and it’s nothing but compliments, ‘Stick with it, it’s getting better, we can see massive signs, it’s the best we’ve played in years’.

“I think it’s a small section. I think the fans who are totally with what we’re trying to do are getting a bit fed up with those who are having a pop, to be honest.

“I think for the other fans there is a genuine feeling that, ‘Come on now, okay, you’ve had your protests, you’ve had a march, you’ve done whatever you’ve done, you’ve written an article, let’s now everybody get behind the team because we’re in a position where the signs are good, let’s turn some performances into points and let’s grab some momentum and get everybody pulling together and push us up the table’.”