GRAEME SOUNESS today came out fighting by insisting he's not prepared to sacrifice his football principles as he faces up to the biggest crisis since he took charge at Ewood.

Rovers' 2-0 defeat at West Ham on Saturday was their ninth in the last 11 league games and only goal difference now separates them from third bottom Bolton in the relegation zone.

But Souness is adamant Rovers will continue to play their way out of trouble.

And he remains confident that his beleaguered squad possess the necessary fighting spirit to beat the drop.

"It's in situations like this that you start to find out about yourself and the people around you," said Souness.

"And I've had to handle situations more difficult than this outside of football so I feel I'm equipped to deal with the situation we find ourselves in now.

"As I've said all along, our priority is to stay in the Premier League and it's a tough league to play in.

"We did reasonably well up to the halfway stage but didn't get enough points on the board and we've started the second half of the season along similar lines.

"But we are not going to change and become a kick it and lump it team, and then see what happens.

"People have been guilty of losing their concentration at vital times over the last few weeks and that's something we must sort out quickly.

"But we still feel our football is good enough to get us more than we are currently getting."

Desperate for a win to ease the pressure at the foot of the Premiership, Rovers were left chasing the game from the moment Trevor Sinclair fired them into a 17th minute lead.

And Fredi Kanoute then all but killed the game as a contest with a killer second shortly after the break.

"We were punished for two mistakes," said Souness.

"And, although we had a lot of possession, they sat in and defended well once they got the goal and we didn't do enough to break them down.

"We had lots of the ball and when that happens it sometimes sends your defenders into the comfort zone.

"And I think that's a problem we faced here and against Arsenal the other night.

"But, ultimately, that first goal killed us and, for the kind of players we had out there, that shouldn't have happened."

"West Ham are known as a footballing team and I thought we out-footballed them for long periods but they escaped with the points.

"I'm just waiting for that Saturday afternoon at five o'clock when I can stand in front of the Press and say 'We were minging today but we won.'"

With Rovers now facing a massive game against Fulham on Saturday, Souness may consider a recall for experienced defensive duo Craig Short and Henning Berg.

"We are very fortunate in the fact we have people like Henning and Craig who can come back," said Souness.

"Maybe for the second goal you could have looked at the central two.

"But we'll see. We've got five days to decide about that."

Meanwhile, Rovers have poured cold water on reports that Alan Mahon could be set to sign for Birmingham.

But, though City did make an enquiry some time ago, they have not made a fresh enquiry.

ROVERS reserves are in action against Aston Villa tonight at Villa Park (kick off 7pm).

The squad is: Kelly, Curtis, McNamee, Danns, Greer, Michael Taylor, Johnson, Douglas, Richards, O'Brien, Corbett, Howson, Robinson, Thomas, Hockenhull, Dunning.