The speculation surrounding Mark Hughes' position did not appear to effect Blackburn Rovers' performance at Bolton Wanderers yesterday.

"It didn't unsettle us and I was pleased with that," said Hughes.

"There was a lot of speculation surrounding the game but we didn't allow that to hamper our preparations.

"If you prepare properly and everyone is focused on the job in hand then you can get positive results, and I was as pleased with that as I was with the result."

After taking 10 points from their last four games, Rovers are firmly back in the hunt for a European place, with just three points separating them and Liverpool, who currently occupy fourth position.

Hughes added: "We're very much in the mix.

"We had a little stumble just prior to Christmas and I don't think it's unrealistic to think the other teams in and around us will have a period where they don't play to the best of their ability, and they'll slip up too.

"We've had our period where we haven't got as many points as we'd have liked, and our performance levels were down but, hopefully, we are through that now, and the other teams around us will go on to drop points.

"Historically, we always seem to be stronger in the second half of the season and going out of the cup competitions, disappointing as that was, has maybe cleared our minds in terms of Premier League games.

"Our training weeks can be structured with a view to gearing up for weekend games.

"All the decks are cleared and we can really focus on the games we have ahead of us."