Matt Jansen has warned former club Blackburn Rovers not to allow themselves to slip into the relegation reckoning.

Former Rovers striker Jansen, 32, remains confident Sam Allardyce’s men will comfortably survive and can look forward to a brighter future but warns home games against Hull and Bolton in the next fortnight could yet prove pivotal.

He told the Lancashire Telegraph: “It only takes a couple of games to be dragged right back into trouble and Rovers will know that going into these two very important home games.

“I think people thought we would be okay in 1998/99 but once our bad run started, the pressure just built up and built up and you just started thinking ‘where is the next win going to come from’.

“You are always looking at that forty point mark to ensure safety and until you get there, the nerves will be jangling.

"I actually think it will only take about 37 points to stay up, but you can’t know that.

“The problem is these games do become very nervous now.

"We found that back when we were relegated and I suppose results show we didn’t respond very well. It is hard to get yourselves out of a slump.”