GERRY Francis has warned his players they could be in for a rough ride against Blackburn Rovers tomorrow.

The former Tottenham boss was fuming after his side's insipid surrender when they lost 2-0 at top-of-the-table Birmingham last week.

"I was disappointed in the way we lost the game at Birmingham," blasted Francis

"We seemed to call it a day with 25 minutes to go and that's unacceptable.

"I'm not going to stand for that kind of thing and if we do that against Blackburn we'll be in for a very rough ride.

"We might not have the best players in the world but we can match the opposition for determination and effort.

"And If we can do that we will win more than we lose.

"The players know I wasn't pleased after the Birmingham game and I've told them they've got to put it right against Rovers."

Rangers are a different club to the one Francis used to manage at the start of the decade.

Then, they were among the Premier League's high flyers, notching up three consecutive top 10 finishes.

But the departure of Francis and the loss of star names like Les Ferdinand and Darren Peacock have seen the club fall from grace in the last five years.

And last season they nearly dropped into the Second Division until a 6-0 victory over Crystal Palace on the final day kept them up.

Now Francis has started his rebuilding job and Rangers are still unbeaten at Loftus Road in the League this season.

But they've lost their last two away games and Francis is demanding they don't slip back into their old ways.

"I've been pleased with a lot of things this season but what concerns me is we might fall back into those lacklustre performances which have been a feature of this club over the last two years. "I'm not going to let that happen.

"We've had two tough away games and we've got nothing to show for it.

"But we've got to put that out of our minds and keep our home momentum going."

Meanwhile, Francis should be able to recall one of his bright new stars for the visit of Rovers.

Jermaine Darlington has been a revelation since arriving in a £25,000 move from non-League Aylesbury United, scoring an opening day cracker in their 3-1 victory over Huddersfield.

But a calf injury has kept the speedy wing-back out of the side in recent weeks.

And after the disruptions caused by a meningitis scare and international call ups, both he and his team-mates are keen to get back in the groove as quickly as possible.

"We were having a good streak and playing well, but the enforced breaks disrupted us a bit. Hopefully we can get it back and get a good run going again, starting with a win against Blackburn," said Darlington.

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