STEVE Kean believes a win at Bolton on Saturday would put Blackburn Rovers “within touching distance” of Premier League safety – after seeing his side move six points clear of the drop zone last night.

The Rovers boss celebrated his 50th league game in charge with his first back to back league wins since taking charge in December 2010 with goals with Junior Hoilett and Yakubu securing a 2-0 win over Sunderland.

Rovers travel to relegation rivals Bolton on Saturday, providing the game gets the go-ahead following Fabrice Muamba’s collapse, and Kean knows a third straight victory would leave safety in his sights.

He said: “I certainly think we would be within touching distance of it if we did get a result at Bolton.

“Our first goal this month was to go unbeaten. If the Bolton game is on we will go out and try and get more points.

“There is still a lot of football to be played but we looked at this month and saw it as a big opportunity to put points on the board and possibly put a gap between us and teams around us.

“We know Saturday is going to be a difficult occasion, it is going to be very emotional for the Bolton players if it goes ahead.

“We are delighted Fabrice is making progress and if the game goes ahead we will try to get more points if Bolton want more time we will respect that.”

Hoilett’s volley broke the deadlock with an opportunistic volley just before the hour mark, before Yakubu sealed the win minutes from time.

The victory leaves Rovers in a healthier position than they have been all campaign, with Kean now eyeing a climb up the table.

Kean said: “I sat up here some times saying I would never give up hope that we would get the fans going home happy and everyone would be happy and singing.

“That has certainly been here of late. Let’s get to the required points as soon as possible and enjoy the summer and plan for next season “I would say over the last 11 games we have got 17 points and to keep chipping away and adding points in encouraging.

“I think we can catch teams above us. With confidence, and consistency and if we can keep that in the team, we are starting to look up.

“We are thinking lets go unbeaten this month and you get everyone believing you can clear things off the line, like Martin Olsson did for us.”