EWOOD goal-ace Matt Jansen today backed Christophe Dugarry to provide the inspiration necessary to keep Birmingham in the Premiership as the Blues head for Ewood tomorrow.

Jansen performed a similar task for Rovers during the second half of last season, scoring seven goals in 15 games, as Graeme Souness's side successfully staved off the threat of relegation.

So, if anyone can relate to the burden of expectation currently weighing on Dugarry's shoulders, then it's the 25-year-old talisman.

Blues boss Steve Bruce raised more than a few eye-brows when he first made his move for the French World Cup winner.

Despite his achievements for the national team, the 30-year-old striker has hardly set the world alight on the domestic front in the last two years.

But that has failed to stop Jansen from identifying City's new 'Enfant Terrible' as the man who poses the biggest threat to Rovers' unbeaten record tomorrow.

"Obviously, he's a quality player who has done it at the top level and only time will tell if it's the right move for him or not," said Jansen.

"Steve Bruce knows more about the ins and outs of Birmingham than I do, so he'll know what they need to stay up.

"But if he ends up securing them a place in the Premiership then he's clearly been worth the money.

"I must admit when I saw him against Arsenal on Sunday he looked a lot sharper than I thought he would be.

"I thought he was more of a touch player but he looked reasonably sharp against Martin Keown which is no mean feat because Keown's not slow.

"It's going to take him a couple of games to get used to the players around him but when he does, I'm sure he'll do a good job for them."

Dugarry is just one of several new faces who have been brought in by Bruce to help boost the Blues' survival bid.

Tottenham midfielder Stephen Clemence, Ipswich utility man Jamie Clapham and Senegal World Cup star Ferdinand Coly have also arrived at St Andrews since the transfer window opened at the beginning of the month.

And all four will be desperate to make their mark against Rovers as City attempt to address a worrying slump which has featured just one win from their previous eight Premiership encounters.

"All games are difficult in the Premiership, no matter where the other team are in the league," said Jansen.

"Birmingham will be scrapping for points coming off the back of a 4-0 defeat against Arsenal.

"They've just made a couple of signings who made their debut in that game so they'll be getting used to the players around them.

"But we've been playing some good stuff lately, we are unbeaten in eight games now, and we can take great confidence from that.

"Having said that, I thought it was more a case of two points lost than a point gained against Sunderland last Saturday.

"We'd expect to get a result against them and we had the chances to finish them off.

"So it would be nice to get a good win tomorrow because I think we could start to move up a few places if we can string a few results together.

"We had a good end to last season and if we can do something similar again then the top six or seven isn't out of the question."