BLACKBURN Rovers go into Saturday's crunch meeting with Portsmouth at Ewood Park knowing their Premiership fate lies firmly in their own hands.

With nine games left to play, Rovers hold a crucial four point advantage over Pompey, who are currently in the third relegation spot.

A win for Rovers at the weekend would put some much-needed daylight between them and the bottom three.

And a draw would not be seen as a disaster either, because at least Rovers would maintain a handy four-point cushion going into the final few weeks of the season.

Graeme Souness believes his side need three more wins to guarantee their Premiership status.

With fellow strugglers Leeds United and Leicester City still to visit Ewood in the next few weeks, Rovers should achieve that survival target on home soil.

But there may yet be a few more twists and turns to come before the relegation places are finally decided.

As things stand, a total of eight clubs are still sweating on their Premiership futures.

Wolves look the most vulnerable but anyone up to Bolton in 13th place could still conceivably go down.

A week ago, Leeds looked doomed. Not only were they propping up the rest of the table, but they also stood on the brink of financial ruin.

However, a consortium have since come to United's rescue and Monday night's 2-1 win over Manchester City, another side haunted by the spectre of relegation, has breathed new life into their survival hopes.

Crucially, Eddie Gray's side must still play Portsmouth and Leicester at home and their fate may ultimately hinge on the outcome of those two games.

Of the others scrapping it out at the bottom, Leicester and Portsmouth are the two in most serious danger, not just because of their current league positions, but because of the teams they still have to play.

Portsmouth have yet to win on their travels this season and three of their remaining four away games are against Rovers, Leicester and Leeds.

On top of that, Harry Redknapp's side must also face Arsenal and Manchester United at Fratton Park.

Leicester, meanwhile, are in an even trickier predicament.

The Foxes face daunting away trips to Old Trafford and Highbury in the coming weeks, as well as crucial six-pointers against Rovers, Leeds, Portsmouth and Manchester City, who have arguably the easiest run-in of all the bottom six.

Five of City's last nine games are at the City of Manchester Stadium and every one of them looks winnable on paper if Kevin Keegan's side can get their house in order.

Of the other two teams still in danger mathematically, Bolton and Everton should both have enough about them at home to pick up the handful of points they require for survival.

So the three clubs I'm predicting for the drop are Wolves, Leicester and Leeds, with Portsmouth beating Middlesbrough on the last day to survive.