JASON Roberts insists it is ‘business as usual’ at Blackburn Rovers as they refuse to use Sam Allardyce’s absence as an excuse for any Premier League slump.

Rovers travel to Fulham tonight without their boss, who will undergo a heart procedure on Friday, but striker Roberts is determined to ensure they continue to prosper without him.

Roberts was Rovers’ match winner last season at Craven Cottage and a repeat of that victory tonight would lift them above East Lancashire rivals Burnley and into the top half of the Premier League.

He said: “There could be a tendency to drop off without the manager, if you weren’t dealing with the kind of professionals we have in the dressing room. We want to do the best we can, we want to fire each other on. We would not allow ourselves to have that excuse.

“We have a dressing room that shows desire and shows determination. When faced with a challenge I would like to think we come off better than worse the majority of the time.

“We knew we had a job to do and the situation was not ideal, but you can let yourself have an excuse or you can let it drive you on and it drove us on on Sunday.

“A football club is a strange environment because you have to remain focused on the game and nothing else matters.

"It has been business as usual for us and that is a compliment to the professionalisnm of the bunch of guys we have here.”