THE stakes for Premiership survival have never been higher.

The bottom four clubs in England's elite league come head to head this weekend - and they only have to look down to the murky depths of League One (the Third Divison in old money) to see the price of failure.

Oldham Athletic, Swindon Town, Barnsley, Wimbledon (now the MK Dons), Sheffield Wednesday and Bradford have all graced the Premier League.

Unless a drunken Russian millionaire stumbles into town, none of these clubs will reach those heights again.

The cost of relegation is crippling. The downward spiral can be all consuming.

Of the 34 clubs relegated in the Premiership's 10-year history, only eight have bounced straight back. And most of them have fallen right back through the trap-door within a couple of years.

Take a look at the bottom half of the Championship, and you'll find clubs who were once mainstays in the top flight: Nottingham Forest, Coventry, Leicester and Leeds United.

The message is clear: Lose your place in the Premiership, and you may never get back.

On Saturday, bottom club Blackburn Rovers travel to winless Norwich City in what is a huge game for both clubs. On the same day, West Brom face Southampton.

Relegation issues won't be settled this weekend, but the pressure on all four clubs will be immense.

For Rovers, a drop out of the division would be disastrous. Wage bills would have to be slashed, and that means players would have to be sold to make up for the loss of TV revenue and the shortfall in attendances - and that's at a club where the finances have been managed prudently.

So what's the answer?

Many Rovers fans, through this newspaper's Sports Letters pages, have been urging the club to spend, spend, spend in the January transfer window.

"You've got to speculate to accumulate" seems to be the maxim. Spend £8-10million to protect the £25 million golden egg that comes with the Premiership.

It's a sound theory, but one which is tough to implement.

The club does have to spend - few would argue with that.

But it has to spend wisely. If Rovers are to move to a position of safety, Mark Hughes has to buy two or three key players.

It will be useless bringing in any more players to strenghten the squad. Rovers already have a big squad in depth - probably one of the strongest it has ever had.

But Hughes needs players who will walk straight into the first team. He needs players who will make an immediate impact. He needs players who will shape and influence games.

Rovers need a central defender who can breed confidence and stability at the back. And they need a predatory striker who can turn draws into wins.

The only problem is - so do most of the Premier League, whose sole aim is to either scrap it out for a UEFA Cup place or ward off relegation.

Hughes faces an almost impossible task given the squad he has inherited from Graeme Souness.

Fans need to be patient in the transfer window. Rovers will be just one a dozen top clubs scrapping it out for quality players.

The reality, of course, is that there will be few class players up for grabs. What club would release a player who has all the top attributes?

What Rovers can't do is panic buy. They can't afford to blow money away in the manner previous managers have.

Hughes will take a sensible and positive approach in his first transfer window in football management.

And he may unearth a gem to fire Rovers up the league table.