Blackburn don't need to panic about relegation... yet, warns Brett Emerton

Brett Emerton insists there is no panic in the Blackburn dressing room - at least not yet!

Sam Allardyce’s troops slipped into the relegation zone following West Ham’s midweek victory over Aston Villa.

Rovers’s position in the bottom three is largely down to their dreadful form on the road.

Allardyce’s side have lost 10 consecutive matches on their travels but the Rovers boss is demanding a reaction from his players today (SAT) when they return home to face rock bottom Portsmouth.

Emerton admits the Premier League table does not make happy reading.

But the Australian winger believes it is too early to sound the alarm bells with around three quarters of the season remaining.

Emerton said: “It was a tough October for us and some of the results were no up to scratch.

“It’s too early to be concerned about our position - especially after the fixtures we have had against Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea.

“Come the midway point, if we’re still down there then maybe that’s the time to be worried.

“But now is not the time to start worrying about it at this stage.

“We have a very capable squad and there is a lot of confidence that we will climb the table.”

The visit of Portsmouth marks the return of defender Aaron Mokoena to Ewood.

Mokoena, nicknamed ’The Axe’, spent four years at Rovers before joining Portsmouth in the summer.

Emerton added: “He’s a tough player but he doesn’t scare me.

“Aaron is a great guy and I got on with him really well when he was here.

“Hopefully the fans will give him a decent reception because he did a lot for the team.”