TONY Mowbray admits relegation from the Championship would be ‘unthinkable’ for Blackburn Rovers but admits it’s a reality they must face up to in the final eight games of the season.

Rovers are one point from safety ahead of trips to Brighton and Reading.

Mowbray is unbeaten in his seven games in charge, but that 11 point haul hasn’t been enough to move Rovers clear of the dropzone.

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The head coach says a failure to turn draws in to wins has added extra pressure on the remaining fixtures as Rovers look to avoid relegation to the third tier.

“It’s unthinkable really, but the reality is there in front of us and we have eight games to make sure we get enough points,” Mowbray said of avoiding the drop.

“I fall in to that category as a lover of football, I look at recent history of the club, it’s only just over 20 years (since Rovers won the Premier League) but it feels pretty recent to me.

“The preparation will be intense for every one of those games, time allowances around it, but the players have shown me they have a resilience to stay in games.

“We are frustrated a little bit that while it is seven games unbeaten there are five draws in that.

“A few more wins, maybe at Norwich when we got ourselves 2-1 up and then the Preston game recently, with those four points we would have been sitting a lot prettier and not have so much pressure on the next games.

“As the games start to run down and you find yourselves in the same predicament then you are going to find yourselves with one or two games to try and save your season.”

Before it gets to that, Rovers face the prospect of two tough looking away trips, at Brighton tomorrow (3pm) and Reading on Tuesday (7.45pm).

The Seagulls are eyeing automatic promotion to the Premier League, while the Royals are looking set for a spot in the play-offs.

Rovers aren’t the only relegation threatened side to face a promotion-chaser this weekend, with Wigan, Burton and Nottingham Forest travelling to Newcastle, Huddersfield and Preston respectively.

But Mowbray insists his side travel to the AMEX Stadium with the belief they can spring a surprise against Chris Hughton’s men.

The Ewood chief added: “We have to try and get points as quickly as we can, but the difficulty is that the next two games are Brighton and Reading away, they are not easy football matches, against two teams that are striving for immediate promotion and play-offs.

“We have to approach them as if they are cup finals and one off games. We have to go and let Brighton know that Blackburn Rovers are here to try and win a football match.

“We’ve had some good rest and some intense training work and now we’re building up to the weekend and hopefully we will give a good account of ourselves.”