ROBBIE Savage reckons Blackburn Rovers are ready to prove last season's top six finish was not just a flash in the pan.

After taking just one point from their first three games of the new campaign, Mark Hughes' team was being written off in some quarters as one season wonders'.

However, Rovers are now firmly back on track after they recorded their second successive Premiership win at Middlesbrough on Saturday, a result which lifted them into the top half of the table.

And Savage believes Rovers can maintain a top 10 position for the rest of the season, providing they don't start believing their own hype.

The Welshman said: "When you start thinking you're a great team and great players, you can soon get brought down to earth in this league, and at Portsmouth on the opening day, we probably thought we were better than what we actually were.

"But we've since got back to a high tempo and a high work-rate, which you've got to do in this league if you want to be successful.

"It's alright having good players, but if you don't do the basics and work hard then you soon get found out, which is maybe what happened to us initially.

"It's a mentality thing. You try not to think like that, but it can happen.

"Portsmouth struggled last year and we just didn't get going down there.

"Since then, though, we've done really well."

Rovers are now four games unbeaten following Saturday's victory at the Riverside, which came courtesy of Shabani Nonda's first goal in English football.

And Savage believes much of the credit for that must go to Hughes and his coaching staff, who spent much of last week pressing home the importance of playing at a higher tempo.

"A lot of the credit's got to go to the manager and the staff because we've been working on playing with a high tempo, shutting the ball down, and not giving the opposition time on the ball, and I think it worked (on Saturday)," said Savage.

"The amount of times they kicked the ball out of play in the first half was a credit to how hard we worked."

Savage also paid tribute to Nonda, who capped his full debut with an excellent headed winner.

"What we missed in the early games was a bit of pace down the sides of teams.

"Losing Jason Roberts was obviously a blow to us, but I thought Shabani came in and showed he has the pace to hurt teams.

"Considering that was his first start in the Premiership, I thought he was fantastic."

Savage was also instrumental in Rovers' victory and he put his recent good form down to a new fitness regime.

"This is probably my best spell of football since I've been at the club," said the former Birmingham man.

"A lot of the credit for that should go to our fitness coach Tony Strudwick.

"I'm in the gym now, which I've never done before in my career.

"But now I'm in the gym every day, working hard, and I've got to do it because the older you get, the harder you've got to work.

"It's part and parcel of football now. You've got to be stronger to survive."

Savage's commitment to the cause was perhaps typified in the second half when he took a whack in the face, which resulted in him having to change his blood-stained shirt for the second successive Premiership away game.

He added: "I got hit in the nose again and with the size of my nose, I'm surprised they didn't have to evacuate the Riverside!

"I don't mind. I give it out, so you've got to take a few cuts here and there. I don't mind that."