BLACKBURN Rovers manager Mark Hughes believes a victory against Manchester City tomorrow could prove to be a launch pad for the rest of the season.

Rovers head into the game against Stuart Pearce's side still searching for their first win of the new campaign.

However, Hughes has been quietly encouraged by recent performances, not least the one against Red Bull Salzburg in the UEFA Cup on Thursday night, when Rovers were seconds away from taking a 2-1 first leg lead.

Now it's back to the bread and butter of the Premiership at Ewood this weekend, and the Rovers chief believes three points against the Blues could act as a catalyst for a charge up the league.

The bullish Welshman, who is considering making changes tomorrow to freshen up his team following their European exertions, said: "We were close to winning the other night so we are getting nearer to it.

"It's only a matter of time, we feel, before we get that first victory on the board.

"We're playing a lot better. In each game we've played since the Portsmouth one on the opening day, I think there have been positives in each and every performance we've had.

"We haven't quite managed to pull it all together in one match as yet, but certainly the other evening I thought some of our play was excellent, and we need to get to that level again and take our chances, then that first win will come very quickly.

"We're getting there. The games we've had up to this point haven't gone as well as we would have wanted results wise, but I keep emphasising the point that, performance wise, we keep improving with every one we play.

"It's a case now of turning those positive performances into results."

One of the key components in Rovers' success last season was their stunning form at Ewood, where Hughes' troops won 13 of their 19 league matches.

Now the Rovers chief is looking for his players to make Ewood a fortress once again, starting against a City side that has hardly set the Premiership alight in the opening weeks of the season.

"We need our home form to be similar to what it was last term," said Hughes.

"Our home form was excellent last season and that was a big part of the reason why we were successful.

"So we TURN TO P35 FROM BACK PAGE need to get back to winning ways at home because that will help us on our travels as well."

City, meanwhile, head to Ewood with a dreadful away record under Pearce.

The Blues have lost 10 of their last 11 top tier matches on the road, a 1-0 victory at Aston Villa on April 25 being their only maximum in 14 away league matches since early December.

One man who'll be desperate to end that drought is striker Paul Dickov, who faces Rovers for the first time since he left on a free in the summer.

Hughes added: "Paul Dickov was excellent for us, certainly in the first season when we were struggling at the wrong end.

"He was a big factor in us staying up and to his credit, he played most of that season at about 65 or 70 per cent of his true fitness because he was struggling with a groin injury.

"I would have liked to have kept him. I made him an offer but he has an emotional attachment to Manchester City and that calling was too strong for him."

Hughes is likely to be without Steven Reid tomorrow as the midfielder is still struggling with a back injury, but Francis Jeffers is available after he was successful in his appeal against a three-match ban for his sending off against Manchester United reserves.