LEICESTER City boss Dave Bassett today backed Rovers to beat the drop -- but not before he plans to plunge them into further relegation strife at Filbert Street tomorrow.

Former Barnsley chief Bassett has already resigned himself to the fact that his Foxes are all but certainties for the First Division next season.

But he's convinced that Rovers won't be joining them, even though he's fiercely determined to put a dent in Graeme Souness's own survival plan.

"When I look at Blackburn I don't see them as a top six or eight Premiership side but I always thought they would stay in the Premier League and I still believe that," said Bassett, who was once targeted for the manager's job at Ewood.

"They've got a great chance of staying up because it's still very much in their own hands.

"Derby, Bolton and Ipswich are all still struggling at the bottom so Blackburn must fancy their chances of finishing above them because, on paper, they've got the makings of a decent side.

"But I can't concern myself with someone else's problems because I'm only worried about what my team do.

"And we need a win tomorrow because we haven't won a Premier League game for some considerable time."

In fact, the last time Leicester tasted league success was way back on December 1 when they beat Aston Villa 2-0 at Villa Park.

Since then, they have gone an incredible 16 games without a win, spending the last four months pinned to the foot of the Premiership.

A lack of firepower up front has been at the root of all their problems, a point underlined by the fact that James Scowcroft is currently the club's top scorer with five goals.

Yet despite their perilous position, Bassett insists his relegation-haunted squad will continue to fight until survival is mathematically impossible.

"We haven't given up -- I think our recent performances have proved that," said Bassett.

"So I can't criticise the players in any way.

"Maybe when we lost at home to both Southampton and Derby I thought we capitulated far too easily.

"But, generally speaking, we haven't really had the rub of the green all season and that's what happens when you're struggling at the bottom.

"Take the game at Ewood, for instance.

"Ade Akinbiyi should have scored for us that night but he missed sitter and that's been the story of our season.

"We've played quite well in a lot of games but we just haven't got the results to show for it and it's in the tight games, in particular, where we seem to have missed out.

"Winning at Southampton, for instance, with two minutes left is another which sticks in my mind but then the ref suddenly gave them a phantom penalty and we ended up with a draw.

"But all that is behind us now and we have to move on.

"We've got two games over Easter and I want to win them both because, if we want to keep alive our slim survival hopes, then we need to win virtually every game we've got left."

Whether City can pull off an escape of Houdini proportions or not, however, Bassett believes survival in the Premiership will only get more and more difficult for the smaller clubs like Leicester and Rovers over the next few years.

"This season has been tough but then every season is tough at this level," said Bassett.

"It's becoming harder and harder to break into that top six because the clubs at the top are getting stronger and stronger.

"You've got the two London clubs, Arsenal and Chelsea, then your Liverpools, your Manchester Uniteds and Leeds.

"They're all big city teams with big support and big corporate backing and everything else that goes with it, and it's becoming harder and harder to compete with them."