BLACKBURN Rovers boss Owen Coyle admits tomorrow’s crunch clash with fellow strugglers Rotherham United is a must win for his side.

Coyle’s basement boys welcome the fifth-from-bottom Millers to Ewood Park after making the club’s worst start to a league season in 20 years.

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Rovers have lost five and drawn two of their first seven games of the Championship campaign.

And while their manager insists they have improved since going down to defeat in their opening three matches he knows that matters little.

Coyle said: “Like any game in the Championship you want to win the game – and it’s come to the stage now when we must start getting those wins on board. There’s no getting away from it.

“We think we’ve performed to a decent level, knowing there’s more to come from us the more we work together, but if we look back at the last four games, Burton and Fulham at home, and QPR and Leeds away, we should probably be unbeaten and maybe sitting with six or seven points.

“As it is we’re not so we’ve got to understand those margins are very fine in attaining the points to go with the performance.

“Saturday is all about winning those three points and getting us up and running – and when we do that the Championship has shown you can go and win games back to back.

“But the key is always winning that first one and getting that monkey off your back.

“The first two performances of the season were terrible, dreadful, and then we had the Cardiff game with the own goals and everything that happened.

“But if you take those three games out of the equation, the last four performances in the league have been of a decent standard and should have resulted in more points than what we’ve achieved.

“But we’ve got what we’ve got and the only people who can change that is us.”

Rovers are the only club in the Championship yet to win this season.

And, asked whether the pressure is increasing the longer the run goes on, Coyle said: “We do understand the process of how you evolve and how you develop and, in respect of that, how hard they’re working in training and the ideas that are being implemented.

“We can see there has been a gradual improvement in terms of level of performance and that coming together.

“But what always helps you achieve that is wins. When you win games everything is so much smoother.

“When you’re not we understand people will ask questions. We’re not hiding from that. We’re meeting this head on. We’ll look to perform well on Saturday, win that game, and carry that on.”

Rotherham will arrive in East Lancashire having failed to score or win any of their first three away league matches after losing 3-0 at Aston Villa and Brighton & Hove Albion and 4-0 at Barnsley.

And Coyle wants his players to work with the supporters to ensure the Millers suffer a fourth straight defeat on the road.

He said: “The fans have got a huge role to play because when they come and back the team as they do, and get behind the players, then the players value that. Then it’s up to the players to respond and give the fans something to shout about.

“I think when you bring it together, with the fans backing the players and the players performing well on the backing of those fans, it can lead to good things.

“It’s about us going out there on Saturday and performing well and the other side of that is the players have to get the fans up and running and get them excited about their team.

“I think we have shown we can create chances and score goals so hopefully come Saturday we’ll bring all that together, get the three points and kick on from there.”