THREE Ewood stars will be sweating on a disciplinary reprieve for the next two and a half weeks.

Ashley Ward, Nathan Blake and Simon Grayson will all escape a ban if they can avoid collecting another yellow card between now and the end of February.

But that means walking a tightrope as Blackburn Rovers face five games during that spell.

For the trio have all clocked up four bookings so far this season.

And, under the new disciplinary system brought in largely at the request of clubs, they face a one-game suspension if they reach five by the end of February.

After that deadline, however, five cautions means only a warning from the Football Association.

Rovers have certainly benefited from the more lenient disciplinary procedure in operation this season.

Only Steve Harkness has so far been forced to serve a suspension through the 'totting-up' process - and one of his bookings came in a reserve game.

Generally, they have found referees far more forgiving in the First Division than the Premiership.

Add all that to the recent instruction to officials to show more commonsense and it is no surprise that suspensions seem to be diminishing.

Manager Tony Parkes will be delighted to avoid any more bans as he warned today that Rovers have as many as nine rivals for just one promotion play-offs place.

And, in the face of such severe competition, he stressed that the club had to help themselves - though he has not set any points target to achieve their goal.

"At the moment, we are playing for just the one place," he said.

"Unless Huddersfield are going to slip up and have a really bad run. "But there are also a lot of teams fighting for that place, probably as many as eight or nine.

"We just have to win our own games, starting against Swindon.

"Because, although you might have to depend on other teams not doing so well, you will still need a certain number of points to get in the play-offs."

After recent slips, Parkes is concentrating on steering the team back into the heart of the race.

"I am just working on the philosophy that we are mid-table now and, when you are only in the middle of the table, I don't think looking at a target is the kind of thing I'll be doing.

"Off the top of my head you would need mid-seventies (points) anyway. That's what I would think without even working it out."

Rovers have played fewer games than most of their rivals but that's no consolation to Parkes.

"Games in hand can be false," he added.

"People look at them and presume that you are going to take six points from those two games.

"But it very rarely works that way.

"Our two games in hand are Birmingham away and Norwich at home so to get six points from those two games will be a tall order."

At least injury problems appear to be lifting and fit-again Matt Jansen revealed that hopes of a Rovers revival could be boosted by a Brockhall team meeting, called in the wake of three successive League and Cup defeats. And the striker, hoping to see the answers to the problems at Ewood against Swindon this afternoon, felt it brought everyone closer together in pursuit of their promotion goal.

So just what happens at these "clear-the-air" meetings?

Jansen explained: "The manager is in there and he asks for your opinions. "We come to an agreement on what we all think is right, have a fresh start and try to concentrate on those points.

"It's aimed at getting us all thinking the same way and you have to be honest.

"Everybody says what they think to try come up with the right answers."

"And you don't then get people going away and saying 'he should have done this' or 'he should have done that'."

It hasn't been a settled season for Jansen but a goal against Newcastle in his last appearance gave him a bit of a lift.

"I've had 11 starts and scored four goals but that's not as good a record as it has been," he said.

"You need a run of games and it's been disjointed.

"I've come in for a couple of games then gone out again due to injury and things like that.

"So it's not been a settled season so far. But, hopefully, I can push my way into the team and get a run of games behind me.

"We haven't really beaten a team by four or five. It's always a 2-1 and a struggle. We really need to destroy a team.

"I think it's about confidence more than anything.

"When things are going right, you go on a run but it just hasn't been happening."

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