CHRIS Samba has warned his Blackburn Rovers team mates ‘don’t waste all of our hard work’ as they look to make it a miserable Ewood Park return for Mark Hughes.

The former Rovers boss brings his Fulham side to East Lancashire on Saturday, with skipper Samba stressing the importance of building on the weekend’s battling draw with Premier League big-spenders Manchester City.

Samba and company produced a Herculean defensive effort to hold City to a 1-1 draw at the City of Manchester Stadium but the giant defender insists it will all have been for nothing if they fail to defeat the Cottagers on Saturday.

Work is continuing behind the scenes on the potential sale of the club, with front runner Ahsan Ali Syed expected to send some presence to Ewood soon for further talks.

The Indian tycoon is understood to be happy with the progress he is making in his bid to take control of Rovers but the Lancashire Telegraph understands at least one other unnamed bidder, also believed to be from India, has progressed in their own investigations into Rovers’ financial situation.

While the race for the club continues to hot up off the pitch though, players and staff are determined to keep their minds on their Premier League challenge.

Samba said: “The only way that draw against Manchester City can be a good point is if we get three points against Fulham. That is the only way we can make that point worthwhile.

“It is no time to waste any point. If you make mistakes you get punished and the less mistakes you make the more games you win. We have to continue to be winners and to put points on the board whatever it takes.

“For us performances are not enough. Other people outside the club say we are a good team and are playing well. It is not about performances, it is about your position in the table and how many points you get.”

Michel Salgado, David Dunn and Ryan Nelsen will all be hoping to shake off injuries in time for Fulham’s Ewood visit, with Samba backing Nikola Kalinic to continue his good start to the season.

The Croatian striker. who cost £6million at the start of last season, has bagged two goals already this campaign after taking a while to adjust in his debut season last time round.

Samba said: “When he arrived he had a really difficult time but for the last part of the season we started seeing his quality. Now we know how to use, how to play with him and how to help him getting more goals and to improve himself.

“I think this season we will see a better Niko Kalinic. He is better suited to the Premier League now and he is more integrated into a system that he knows now.

“It was all about the integration for him. It is not easy when you come into the Premier League from another league. We see a lot of big strikers who can’t do it here. He just needed a little bit of time.

“People do forget he is still only young. Maybe some thought because we spent six million pounds he was going to get 20 goals straight away. They forget he was only 20 years old.

“I think he can definitely be a big hit for Blackburn. We see him every day in training.”