Blackburn Rovers skipper Ryan Nelsen has rubbished reports that manager Paul Ince has lost the dressing room.

The Rovers defender said: "That's not the case. Everyone is training and working hard. Heads aren't down - we're not slumping around feeling sorry for ourselves.

"We know the situation we're in and we're working hard with the staff and the gaffer to get up this league. Paul's been great. He has taken a lot of flak when the players should have taken it.

"We've all made mistakes that we weren't making under Mark Hughes so I feel bad for the manager.

"The players have got to stand up and be counted a lot more. We all know that, we understand that and we want to do it."

Nelsen also insisted reports of player unrest were false.

He added: "I don't know where it comes from. It's been going on since pre-season. Whenever you hear there's 'sources from within', flags go up. It sounds a bit dodgy."