Blackburn cannot afford to go down, says ex-manager Mark Hughes

Due to face his former club tomorrow, Mark Hughes says they would miss Premier League cash if they are relegated
  
  

Mark Hughes
Mark Hughes says he still keeps an eye on his former club's results. Photograph: Michael Regan/Action Images Photograph: Michael Regan/Action Images

Mark Hughes believes it would be a "disaster" if Blackburn Rovers got relegated to the Championship. The Manchester City manager is due to face his former club at Eastlands tomorrow, pointing out that Rovers would struggle without Premier League money.

"I know Blackburn very well from top to bottom and they cannot afford to go out of the Premier League," he said. "That would be a disaster. It has been a difficult season for them. They were an established top-10 club when I was there and this year they have not been able to hit those heights."

Rovers' victory over Wigan last weekend has taken them to the brink of safety and their present tally of 37 points may already be enough but Hughes is expecting Sam Allardyce to have his side organised tomorrow.

"Sam has come in and got them playing in a way that is helping them at the moment given their situation," said Hughes. "They are getting points on the board, which is key. I still look out for their results. I had four good years there and enjoyed working with the people. They were a big part of the success I had there. It is a good club."

However, Hughes recognised it was a club with limitations, hence his decision to take over at City.

"One of the main reasons I left Blackburn was that I wanted the expectation levels to rise and work under those conditions," he said. "I wanted to drive Manchester City forward. That is still my aim.

"On occasions it has been frustrating and difficult but that was always part of the deal. Nothing has changed from my initial thoughts about what the club would be like but maybe, because of the new owners, the focus has intensified in terms of the attention we get."

Since City's Uefa Cup exit to Hamburg Hughes' focus has been on achieving the seventh-placed finish that would secure a spot in next season's new Europa League. Ironically it is the lack of European football for the past fortnight that has allowed Hughes to devote more time for practice on the training ground.

The result has been wins over West Bromwich Albion and Everton, with the prospect of completing three Premier League victories in a row for the first time this season.

"After making such an effort to get to the latter stages people might have thought we would have used the defeat against Hamburg as an excuse to switch off and take our eye off the ball," said Hughes. "That has not been the case. We have talked about finishing seventh for quite some time now.

"We are having clear weeks leading into Premier League games, which has not always been the case this season, and that continuity leads me to anticipate we will have a good finish."

 

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