ENGLAND Under 21 international Martin Taylor today backed Rovers to beat the drop because of the current sense of 'togetherness' in the Ewood dressing room.

Taylor knows exactly what it's like to experience the ignominy of relegation after he was part of the last Rovers side to suffer such a fate in 1999.

But, as everyone at Ewood braces themselves for a similar survival scrap over the next eight games, Taylor insists Graeme Souness's class of 2002 are far better equipped to stay up than Brian Kidd's men were three years ago.

"It would be devastating if we went down again," admitted Taylor, who pulled out of Rovers trip to Dubai earlier this week.

"But, from my point of view, the club doesn't feel the same as it did on the last occasion that happened.

"I'm not saying there was a bad atmosphere last time but the atmosphere now is certainly better than it was then.

"Everyone is together, which helps, and everyone is prepared to fight to stay up.

"So, hopefully, we'll do that.

"I was only a young lad on the fringes of the first team the last time we were in this position but I felt the club was in a transitional period at that time.

"A lot of the players were leaving or wanted to leave and there were others coming in, but that's not the case this time.

"There's more stability here now and we've got a team who wants to get out of it.

"Everyone is confident. I know the last game at Leeds was a bit disappointing but before that we'd be on a good little run and we believe we can do that again."

When Graeme Souness and his

squad return from their week-long break in Dubai on Monday, the countdown to survival will begin as Rovers have eight games left to save their bacon.

And Taylor believes having to play games against top six sides like Newcastle, Chelsea and Liverpool could yet be a help rather than a hindrance.

"I think we've got a mixed run-in. It's not the easiest out of all the teams at the bottom but it's not the most difficult either," said Tiny.

"We've got to play teams who are going for the Champions League as well as teams who are fighting for their lives, so it's a mixed bag.

"We've still got Newcastle at home and Chelsea at home and you don't need to raise yourself for games like that because they're big ones what ever is at stake.

"It's the games against the bottom sides which could pose more problems because they will be more like battles and sometimes you don't get the results you deserve out of matches like that."

If Rovers' season as a whole has been something of a traumatic experience given their perilous position in the table, at least Taylor has benefited from his first major taste of top-flight football.

The 6ft 4in defender has started 10 games in the Premiership so far this term.

But it was his appearance in the Worthington Cup final at Cardiff last month which really underlined the confidence Souness now has in him.

"I would have taken that, gladly, at the start of the season," said the 22-year-old.

"When you're playing in the Premier League you know straight away that you're playing on a big stage.

"Everything is bigger, from the media coverage to people coming up to you on the street.

"So I've enjoyed playing in all the games and the pinnacle was the Worthington Cup final, which was a brilliant experience."

HAKAN Unsal and Tugay has been called up to the Turkish squad to face South Korea in a friendly on March 26. They will fly back from Dubai today as will Damien Duff, Keith Gillespie and Henning Berg, who also have international commitments.

RESERVE team striker James Thomas has gone on a month's loan Bristol Rovers.