THE price of failure could be as high as £10 million for Blackburn Rovers, as their struggle against the threat of relegation from the cash-laden Premiership reaches its climax.

And that staggering figure is getting on for nearly 50 per cent of their turnover - for a club which Jack Walker has said should be moving towards a self-financing position.

The mega-rich owner bankrolled Rovers' rise to fame and fortune and it would be a stunning blow to Ewood finances, if they failed to cling on to Premiership status.

In fact, if it wasn't for Mr Walker's pledge that he remains as committed as ever, the scenario could spell financial disaster.

Just how seriously Rovers would be affected can only be estimated, but the damage would inevitably be massive.

They would be hit on three major fronts if their worst fears were realised and they went down.

Revenue from the Premier League, including TV money, would fall by several millions.

Lower attendances, even if the club challenged for promotion next season, could cost another £2-3 million.

Loss of things like sponsorship, corporate hospitality and ancillary income could add up to a couple of million.

There would be some damage limitation if Rovers were to enjoy the kind of season Sunderland have just had.

But there could not be any guarantees of that.

And, even though the Premier League do make 'parachute payments' of around £1.5 million a season - for two years - to help relegated clubs withstand the financial trauma, that does little to staunch the flow of revenue draining away.

When Michael Gray missed the crucial spot-kick for Sunderland in last summer's Wembley play-off it was dubbed on Wearside as "the £10 million penalty". That is what they reckoned promotion would be worth in financial terms. Relegation can be just as costly.

The parachute payments represent a percentage of the equal share of Sky TV cash given out to all top flight clubs at the start of a season. But relegation means missing out on much more revenue such as merit money, which is directly related to where a team finishes in the Premiership and can run into millions.

Television fees are another example.

At the moment, Rovers pick up £250,000 whenever they are featured in a 'live' game, home or away.

In the Nationwide League First Division, fees are less than a third of that figure. So even if they were challenging for promotion and screened regularly there would still be a significant drop in that income.

Merchandising would almost certainly be badly hit while the biggest unknown factor would be attendances.

Bolton, who went down at the end of last season with a similar average gate to Rovers, have lost an average of around 7,000 spectators a game even though they have been challenging for a promotion or play-off spot.

Martin Dahlin, one of Roy Hodgson's costly failures in the transfer market, will be offered to any other interested clubs when he returns from extended loan to Hamburg at the end of the season.

Newcastle are reported to be interested in rescuing the career of Rovers' second choice keeper Tim Flowers. Ruud Gullit's current number one is Flowers' former understudy, Shay Given. MARTIN DAHLIN: Set to return to Ewood

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