Kean confident of sinking Swans

Blackburn boss Steve Kean is confident Rovers have more than enough time to get out of trouble as they bid to end a run of four Premier League defeats at Swansea today.

Back-to-back victories over Wolves and Sunderland last month looked to have taken Kean’s side to the verge of safety but they have failed to pick up a point since, and other teams have taken advantage.

Blackburn’s defeat by Liverpool on Tuesday, coupled with wins for QPR and Wigan the following day, means Rovers head to the Liberty Stadium three points from safety with five games to play, which include away matches at Tottenham and Chelsea.

Kean said: “We’ve worked on the bits we feel we can improve on and we’ll go down to Swansea and try to do the double over them.

“They’ve got a very good home record but we know if we can get a clean sheet and a victory, and then match what we did against Wolves and Sunderland, where we had back-to-back victories and back-to-back clean sheets, then the table changes again.

“We’re still confident we can get into a good position.”

Swansea have been one of the success stories of this season but have struggled in recent weeks and also go into the match on a run of four straight defeats.

Kean, meanwhile, could recall defender Gael Givet. The Frenchman, who has been linked with a return to his home country this summer, has been unable to get back into the side after a hamstring injury.

Blackburn’s only fitness doubts are defenders Bradley Orr and Martin Olsson, who have been struggling with Achilles and groin problems, respectively.

Striker Anthony Modeste will definitely be available after seeing his three-match ban for a red card against West Brom reduced to one match, which he served during Tuesday’s defeat by Liverpool.

Swansea manager Brendan Rodgers says the meeting represents the perfect opportunity to bounce back from a miserable run of four defeats.

While Swansea’s destiny is very much in their own hands, the disappointing nature of the performance in defeat to QPR means a big improvement is needed to avoid another reverse that could lead to some end-of-season jitters.

Swansea’s defensive solidity has been one of the hallmarks of their campaign. The Welsh club have kept 12 clean sheets so far, with only Manchester City, Manchester United and Newcastle having recorded a greater number.

But they have conceded 10 goals in their last four games, and Rodgers knows that trend will need to change if they are to arrest their slump as they head into consecutive fixtures against the current bottom three.