DAVID Bentley reckons he and his Blackburn Rovers team-mates need to find another gear over Christmas if they are to pull away from trouble in the Premiership.

The England Under 21 international fired Rovers to a much-needed win at Reading on Saturday when his latest goal-of-the-season contender secured three priceless away points.

However, with tough games to come against Arsenal and Liverpool either side of Christmas, Bentley knows Rovers must show more of the fighting spirit that was evident in the second half at the Madejski Stadium, otherwise the club could find themselves back in a relegation dog-fight.

Reflecting on that second half performance at Reading, when Rovers came from a goal down to win 2-1, a relieved Bentley said: "That's what we need to play like week in, week out to get up this league.

"I think a lot of teams this year have taken note of what we did last year, and a lot of them are getting about teams and getting stuck in like we did last season, so I think we need to push it up to the next level.

"We didn't start too well (on Saturday). It was another poor first half performance, to be honest, and I was one of the main culprits.

"But I thought we showed great character and came out and performed really well in the second half.

"I think the change to a 4-4-2 helped and we just got about them a little bit more. We had more belief and took the game to them.

"If we play like that then there's not a lot of teams who can live with us."

Saturday's victory at the Madejski was Rovers' first on the road in the Premiership since they won at Middlesbrough on September 23, and Bentley was particularly satisfied to seal the points with his first goal in 10 games.

"To see that go in was a big relief," said the midfielder.

"We've been having a bad time of it in the league so when stuff like that happens it's just a relief."

Bentley will now look to conjure up a repeat performance against his old club Arsenal this weekend, when Rovers will make their first ever visit to the Gunners' impressive Emirates Stadium.

"We've got two massive games coming up against Arsenal and Liverpool and they're not going to be easy games.

"That's why it was such a massive result at Reading," said Bentley, a former graduate of Arsenal's youth system.

"I haven't been to The Emirates yet so it will be good to go there and play.

"We need to enjoy our football and, after the way we played in the second half at Reading, hopefully we can kick on from there."