ROVERS captain Ryan Nelsen has admitted fatherhood is a breeze compared to dealing with his side's current slump in form.

The New Zealand defender became a dad for the first time recently with the birth of his son Maxwell.

But he revealed the sleepless nights he is experiencing at the moment have nothing to do with his little five-week-old bundle of joy.

He said: "He's pretty good and my wife's fantastic with him. Obviously it changes your life as your father will tell you. But it's one of those things that it happens when you're having a bad run, so you maybe start thinking is that making things worse?

"But it's a coincidence. It (the defeats) hurt us and we spend 24 hours a day trying to work out how to put it right.

"It's not like we just play the match and go off home.

"I didn't get any sleep after that Arsenal game the other night because you take it home with you.

"The sleepless nights are nothing to do with Maxwell."

After returning from a long-term hamstring injury, Nelsen slotted back into the Rovers rearguard almost seamlessly.

And he was instrumental in the Ewood Park side's fantastic start to the season.

But after receiving a red card against Aston Villa, both his and Rovers' form have taken a tumble, with 14 goals conceded since then, including that match with Martin O'Neill's side.

However, despite just one win in eight, he is confident he can recapture the performances of old and lead the side through this troubled period.

He said: "I didn't think it was possible, but our manager's gone greyer over the last five weeks!

"The coaching staff are doing everything they can to remedy the situation.

"We're only three of four points off Europe and we're talking about how bad things are.

"I don't think it's a major problem because I don't think teams are cutting through us, or playing exceptional football that's breaking us down.

"I think it's just stupid individual errors that are costing us and we're generally down and we have to fight back.

"When that happens, you can be opened up and you can't really dictate the game the way you'd like to if you were leading.

"I think players and teams go through bad stages. It happens to the best of them.

"But you've just got to really work hard and take care of the little things.

"I always believe that it's generally the little things that cause the big problems.

"If you take care of those minor details then that should help."

Although the perfectionist conceded, win, lose or draw, he is very rarely happy with his own showing.

He added: "I wish I could go through my life not making any mistakes, but I've made them in the past and I'll make them again.

"You don't become a bad player overnight. I know what I can do and I know what the team can do.

"That's probably the most frustrating thing about it, that we're not hitting the levels we were before, individually and as a team.

"But even when we were winning, I was still disappointed with the way I played in some of the games.

"Until I play the perfect game, I'll continue to be disappointed, and I'll retire after that."