DAMIEN Duff today set Rovers a survival target of five wins from their remaining 10 games following his star performance in last night's 3-0 victory over Aston Villa.

Duff carried off the man-of-the-match award after inspiring Rovers to their first Premiership win since January 12.

And the 23-year-old wideman now believes 44 points will be enough to guarantee Rovers' place in the top-flight between now and the end of the season.

"This was a huge win for us and it was an added bonus that both Derby and Bolton lost as well," said Duff.

"I think we need five more wins to stay up but we don't want to leave things late, we need to get it sewn up before the end of the season.

"We've still got to play some of the lower teams. We've got Ipswich next week, Leicester away and Everton away. So there's a lot of six-pointers coming up and anything can happen from here."

Before last night, Rovers had won just once in their previous nine league games.

But last week's victory in the Worthington Cup has lifted morale in the dressing room and Duff now senses the tide is beginning to turn.

"We've had a dodgy three or four months and I think we are in a false position in the league -- we should be a lot higher than we are," said the Republic of Ireland star.

"But what happened in Cardiff has given the whole town, the players and the club a massive boost so, hopefully, we can carry that on now."

David Dunn laid the foundations for last night's victory with the opening goal in the seventh minute.

But it wasn't until Duff added the killer second in the 85th minute that the home fans could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

That goal took Duff's tally for the season to four and he now has his eye on more between now and the end of the season.

"I think in my first proper season under Roy Hodgson I scored seven goals, five of which were in the league.

"But I know and everyone else knows that I should score an awful lot more and that's what I'm trying to work on.

"The coaching staff are always onto me and that's what I'm trying to get into my game.

"Dean Saunders has been working with me in particular, he's been giving me a lot of good pointers, and I've enjoyed working with him since he came in.

"So he's always on my case to get in the box and score more goals and that's what I'm trying to do."