BLACKBURN boss Graeme Souness today called on his players to show the necessary mental strength to carry Rovers back into the Premiership.

The Ewood chief sounded his battlecry as his squad put the final touches to their preparations ahead of tomorrow's big derby date with Burnley at Ewood.

It's the first time the two clubs have met at Ewood for a League game in 18 years.

And the passionate Scot knows a victory over the club's arch-rivals would provide the perfect launchpad for a promotion push as they enter the final straight.

"We've got 11 games to go and the ball is very much in our court now," said Souness.

"We've had the chance to get away for a break but now it's back to business.

"And we'll soon see if we've come back from Dubai refreshed or not.

"The opportunity is there if we want it and, up until now, we've shown that we do. But, as I've said before, what we've done before isn't important -- it's all about what we do in the future.

"And this is a great opportunity to set ourselves up for the run-in.

"We've got a busy month ahead but I don't believe players get physically tired.

"What I believe happens is, if players aren't mentally strong, then that's when they become mentally tired.

"And we've got to show that we have the necessary mental strength over the remainder of the season to achieve our goal."

With the eyes of the nation set to focus on the clash, Souness hopes his players will rise to the big occasion.

But he admits that the hype surrounding this game hasn't been quite as intense as the first encounter -- even though there is arguably more at stake. "The hype was perhaps greater last time because we'd not played each other for so long," said Souness.

"But we know the importance of this game and what it means to the fans.

"I think if you look back over our results this season, we've always raised ourselves for the bigger games, particularly when they've been televised.

"We seem to gain an extra yard for the bigger occasions and it's vital we maintain that type of attitude over the next five weeks."

Souness reports no injury problems going into the game after David Dunn confirmed his fitness yesterday.

His main selection dilemma is likely to centre around whether or not to start with Eyal Berkovic.

Rovers are likely to choose from: Friedel, Curtis, Bjornebye, Berg, Short, Flitcroft, Dunn, Duff, Mahon, Gillespie, Bent, Jansen, Berkovic, Hughes, Hignett, McAteer, Taylor, Kelly.

Meanwhile, Rovers are urging fans to getto Ewood as early as possible tomorrow.

The turnstiles will be open from 10am and both the club and the police are asking supporters to co-operate fully by being in their seats early.

"We can't stress the point strongly enough, we need everyone to get down to Ewood as early as possible," said chief executive John Williams.