Blackburn Rovers tonight are relegated from the Premier League after losing their must-win fixture 1-0 to a visiting Wigan Athletic.

Even with a game still to play at Chelsea, Rovers put up little fight to deny the inevitable and now face a season of second-tier football as payment.

First-half, Blackburn would need a miraculous turnaround from their dire performance against Tottenham last week – a game where they failed to gain even a single shot – if they were to stay a Premiership side.

However, with Wigan sinking into possession the home side were quickly looking like a side resigned to the drop.

With Hoilett, Yakubu and Bordeaux loanee Anthony Modeste in attack, the trio posed little threat as a lack of creativity saw little come their way.

As the familiar cries of dissatisfaction with Steve Kean erupted from the stands, play was soon interrupted after a chicken bearing the Rovers flag found its way onto the pitch. Whilst it remained a mystery as to which fans spawned this jibe at owners Venky’s, Yakubu was soon on hand to carry the bird off-field for play to resume.

The home side continued to put up little fight against the Latics. A shot from David Dunn and two terrible freekicks from Pedersen were all Roves could muster during the first period – echoing fears of no shots on goal from last week.

Wigan meanwhile were unlucky not to end the half a goal in front after an early cross from Alcaraz looked certain to be buried by the head of Victor Moses. But with a stroke of luck for the home side the forward somehow headed away from goal.

The second half also got off to a dramatic start after a Blackburn fan showed his disgust by running across the pitch to throw his season ticket into Steve Kean’s technical area. As play resumed Blackburn were looking themselves up as the home side worked the ball much better.

However, whilst the home side seemed to be upping their efforts from the first-half, Wigan never seemed troubled by Rovers’ somewhat half-hearted assaults.

Even when faced with the opportunity to shoot, Blackburn often seemed to fire off the shot in the hope that somehow it would go in, rather than any real attempt on goal. More often than not, their attempts simply rattled off the Wigan defence.

As play ticked down into the final Rovers’ attacking opportunities seemed to wane as Wigan launched fresh assaults in the hope of gaining the lead. Desperate to stay in the running, Paul Robinson was forced to make scrappy saves to keep Blackburn alive.

But with four minutes to save their Premiership status Blackburn were soon buried after Wigan gained the lead. With a corner from Beausejour met by the head of Alcaraz, even the battling Paul Robinson could do little to prevent it crossing the line.

As the fate of the club seemingly sealed, a downtrodden Blackburn gave little in return in the face of imminent relegation.

As the final whistle blew Blackburn now head to Chelsea next week with only the championship to look forward to.