THIS time last year Marcus Bent was the man charged with firing the goals to lead Blackburn into the Premiership.

Tonight, however, he will return to Ewood in the blue and white of Ipswich aiming to push his old team a step nearer the First Division.

But if he is to save the Tractor Boys' skins at the expense of Rovers then Blues boss George Burley will be praying he rediscovers his scoring touch quickly before it's too late.

For Burley is the latest in a long line of managers to take a punt on a player who has always had potential but never quite fulfilled it.

Last term, it was Graeme Souness who took a gamble on the enigmatic 23-year-old and it paid handsome dividends as Bent rattled in 11 goals to help fire Rovers back into the top-flight.

But once back in the Premiership, the former Sheffield United man was then surprisingly deemed surplus to requirements, thus paving the way for Burley to make a dramatic swoop.

And clearly stung by Rovers' rejection, he then set about proving the doubters wrong to devastating effect.

Seven goals in eight games during his first two months at Portman Road saw Bent crowned as the Premiership's player of the month for December -- a hot scoring streak which also coincided with the Blues soaring up the table.

But, just as he looked set to save his new club from relegation virtually single-handedly, he then suffered a dip in form which has seen him draw a blank in each of his last four games.

Burley even took the decision to axe him for last week's defeat at Leeds -- a move which seemed unthinkable barely two months ago.

Bent, however, insists it's only a matter of time before the goals start to fly in again and he would love to mark his return to the North West with the winner tonight.

"I have been through some bad spells in my time so four games is not going to bother me," said Bent.

"Obviously, my confidence has taken a bit of a battering especially as I was dropped for the last game and I have not scored for a few weeks.

"When you are out there scoring goals, people expect you to do it every week.

"I'm hurt at being dropped but I'm still there, I'm still battling and I still want to play and score goals. So I'll try to stay confident and, hopefully, the goals will come."

Bent will be competing with Pablo Counago, Marcus Stewart and Alun Armstrong for one of the two striking berths up for grabs at Ewood.

Stewart and Armstrong were the men who got the nod at Elland Road last Wednesday.

But Bent is adamant he can strike up a good understanding with whoever he plays alongside -- providing he's given the chance by Burley.

"When I first got here I played alongside Alun so I got a bit of a partnership going with him.

"Then I played with Stewie and it takes a couple of games to get into the swing of things.

"Alun is the one I feel most comfortable with at the moment but I'm sure if I played with Stewie more we would forge a good partnership as well.

"But that's not my decision, that's down to the manager."

In the meantime, though, his primary concern is simply to focus on survival.

After appearing to pull clear of danger, a 6-0 thumping by Liverpool has sparked a run of three straight defeats which has seen Town get sucked back into a relegation scrap -- raising the stakes on tonight's game in the process.

But Bent and his team-mates are not ready to press the panic button just yet, despite their perilous position.

"It's not just about Alun Armstrong, Marcus Stewart or Marcus Bent, it's about how the team are playing, and lately we have not been playing well which is perhaps why I haven't been scoring goals," said Bent.

"I wish it were the case that the team was playing badly and I was scoring so we were winning and we would have something to shout about.

"But things are not that drastic.

"People got on their high horse at Christmas saying the team bottom on Christmas Day never escapes relegation but we then got ourselves away from the bottom.

"There are ten games to go, they are going to be hard games, and the way we have played the last three, it may look as if we are set for a long run of defeats.

"But the boys are still confident we can turn things around.

"Things looked better at Leeds and we were a bit unfortunate with the first goal not being the best and then the penalty decision which was a bit harsh.

"So tonight's game is a massive one for us and it's important we get back to winning ways as quickly as possible."