RYAN Nelsen admits Rovers’ heroic Emirates Stadium draw has set their standards high – and warns they can’t afford to slip below those levels as they fight to beat the drop.

Blackburn’s club captain is relishing Saturday’s crucial visit of fellow strugglers Birmingham City and insists every single player has to take responsibility as they look to end a seven-match winless run.

Blackburn Rovers and Birmingham go into Saturday’s clash level on points and just two points above the relegation zone, but Nelsen believes last weekend’s goalless draw at Arsenal shows what the Ewood Park outfit are capable of.

He said: “Saturday’s performance sets the bar pretty high. Before the Arsenal game we knew there were eight cup finals left. Guys have to stand up and deliver and if we don’t we are going to be in trouble.

“It is not really a hard thing to work out. We just have to play well like we did last Saturday. In the end it was a very respectable point.

“We have got our fans behind us who will demand a win against Birmingham and we will demand it as well. We will demand a performance and everyone now can’t wait for Saturday.”

A difficult last few months at Ewood Park, including new ownership and managerial change, has seen Rovers drop alarmingly towards the Premier League bottom three.

A second half fight back to earn a 2-2 draw with Blackpool was followed by Saturday’s battling draw at Arsenal to breathe fresh momentum into Rovers’ season and Nelsen knows now is the time to take advantage.

“There is no pointing fingers or blame for why we are where we are,” he said.

“Right now it is stand up, do your job and do it right. I think everyone is taking responsibility.

“We have to stand up and we have to turn performances into points on the board. In the Premier League away to Arsenal is one of the toughest games you can play and we haven’t even played well there in the past.

“It needed 11 stellar performances to get something from the game and we got that. In the end the amount of effort you put in and karma or something means you deserve it.

“No way are we going to give up. We have got quite a few experienced people who have been in this before and we know what it takes. We are not going to go down lightly.

“It was pleasing to see the performances on Saturday.

"Everyone has said, 'Right, seven games left and this is now a seven-game season. Every game is important and we have to put in performances, it is as simple as that'.”