THE wounds are starting to heal for Mark Hughes.

The Blackburn boss admitted he and his squad were hurting following their second successive 4-0 flop at Chelsea last Saturday.

It has left Rovers propping up the Premiership and everybody in the club feeling pretty down in the mouth.

But it's time to forget all that and smile for the cameras as Liverpool land at Ewood for tomorrow's televised showdown (5.15pm).

And almost a week on from one of the lowest weekends of his career, Hughes is now sharpening his sword for a dual with one of his oldest enemies.

"The last two results have hurt us collectively and individually so we have to get over that," said Hughes.

"We have to make the right response and I'm sure we'll get that. It's just a case of making sure we compete and press it home.

"Early in the week we addressed the issues of the weekend game, which we do as a matter of course, and highlighted the things we need to do.

"Obviously we need to defend our goal better because up to the last two games we were progressing on that.

"But there are other areas we need to be better in, which everybody understands and has been working hard on.

"So I'm expecting a reaction to the last two performances."

The former Manchester United man was one of the few to halt Liverpool's bulldozing success of the 1980s, scoring the winning goal in the 1985 FA Cup semi-final replay at Maine Road.

And while Hughes will face a club still living in the shadow of that glorious era, he still sees them as formidable opponents.

However, as the catalogue of spectacular strikes he netted against the Reds during his career will testify, it's a challenge he has always thrived on.

"Liverpool are one of the better teams in the Premier League and their expectation is to be in that half-dozen so it's always a difficult game to play them," said Hughes.

"But we are at home so I hope we can put in the performance that gets us the points.

"Playing on live TV shouldn't make any difference because every game is televised in some capacity and the players are always aware that they are under the spotlight each and every time they play.

"So it doesn't have as much impact, certainly not as much as it used to.

"But when you're at home it's important to put on a good show anyway."

Like Hughes, central defender Craig Short plied his trade on the blue half of Merseyside and is relishing the prospect of old rivalries bubbling to the surface.

And as far as he's concerned, the bigger the game the better, however difficult it might make Rovers' task of securing a much-needed second victory of the season.

Short said: "Some people say in our situation, you'd be better playing a team from lower down the league, but I believe games like this lift players and that's what we need.

"We are at home and we've got to capitalise on that. Everyone knows we need nothing less than three points.

"I'm really looking forward to it but I'd rather it was late Saturday night now, and we had the points in the bag.

"We don't know what the team is going to be yet, but we have a fully fit squad and there could well be some changes.

"I just hope there is a great atmosphere at Ewood and we can make the most of it."