MARK Hughes is hoping Blackburn Rovers can strike a major psychological blow in the battle for Europe by beating Bolton Wanderers in tomorrow's Lancashire derby at Ewood Park.

A win for Rovers this weekend would see them climb above their arch-rivals from the Reebok for the first time since November 1 2003.

But a bullish Hughes insists there's far more at stake than just local bragging rights as both sides are desperate to dent the others' UEFA Cup hopes in what is fast developing into an intriguing fight for sixth place.

"This is an opportunity for us to leapfrog them in the table," said the Rovers boss, who may choose to freshen up his team after a gruelling schedule recently.

"I don't think we've been above Bolton in the Premier League for some time now and that's what we are trying to do.

"If we can do it this weekend then it's a measure of how far we've come."

Hughes' Carling Cup semi-finalists, who were held to a 1-1 draw by Manchester United in the first leg on Wednesday, are bidding to complete four successive Premiership victories for the first time since May 2004 at Wanderers' expense tomorrow.

Rovers are currently in eighth position in the table, two points adrift of Bolton who are seventh, and four behind Wigan, who are sixth.

But a win tomorrow would see a power shift towards Ewood, and Hughes is desperate to crank up the pressure on Rovers' North West rivals, which also includes Manchester City, who are ninth.

"We look at the league and we, obviously, look around at the clubs who are above and below us, and we look at games against those clubs as really important matches," said Hughes.

"It's an opportunity to leapfrog teams who are chasing the same aims as us and if we can continue to beat teams like Wigan and Bolton, who are currently above us, then we can start to move up the table."

Wanderers are currently enjoying their best ever season in the Premiership and they head to Ewood looking for their 100th league win under Sam Allardyce.

They have also won on each of their last two visits to Blackburn, the most recent being last January, when El Hadji Diouf was accused of diving to win the late penalty that secured a controversial 1-0 victory.

But Rovers are flying themselves and they go into the match on the back of a six-game unbeaten run.

"We've set ourselves higher targets this season and, at the moment, we are bang on track," added Hughes.