MARK Hughes has warned Blackburn fans to tighten their seat belts because he expects the battle for Europe to go right to the wire.

Rovers took another giant step towards a top six finish by securing a vital Premiership victory at Sunderland, courtesy of Steven Reid's first half goal.

That win saw Rovers leapfrog Arsenal in the table and, with just seven games to go, Hughes believes a Champions League place is still within reach, providing his players hold their nerve during the run-in.

"We've got four games at home and three away so if we can keep our home form going and pick up more points on our travels then we'll go very close," said the Blackburn boss.

Hughes admitted Rovers rarely hit top gear at The Stadium of Light, but he was just relieved to avoid another potential banana skin against a Sunderland side that has yet to win on home turf this season.

"There's always the feeling that Sunderland will win a home game eventually and you fear that could be against you, so we were delighted with the three points," said Hughes.

"We've had four games in the north east this season and we've won all of them without conceding."It was important we maintained our away form because we've got some big games to come.

"It's going to go to the wire - the last weekend of the season - but we've crept up on the rails and we've just got to keep going about our business."

As for Reid's goal and his man-of-the-match contribution, Hughes added: "It was a great goal.

"I thought Steven was really strong in his play, especially in the first half, and he was really powerful when he got the ball out of his feet and started driving forward and getting at their back four."