MARK Hughes believes his Blackburn players can take the race for Europe to the final day after yesterday's narrow 1-0 victory at Portsmouth provided fresh hope.

Roque Santa Cruz's second-half winner at Fratton Park ensured Rovers closed the gap to four points on Aston Villa, who snatched a late draw at Everton, in the scramble for an Intertoto place.

It means Rovers still have a fighting chance of pinching sixth place over the next fortnight, although they will have to win both of their remaining games, and hope that Villa slip up.

A bullish Hughes said: "We've got to keep going. We've got two games left, against Derby at home and Birmingham away.

"They are two difficult games but they are also two games we believe we can win, so we'll take our chances.

"If we can get to 60 points then we'll have had a remarkable season, and if we then miss out, we miss out. But it won't be for the want of trying."

Those sentiments were also echoed by hero of the moment Santa Cruz, who once again proved to be the matchwinner, plundering his 21st goal of a magnificent personal campaign to rekindle Rovers' challenge.

"If we hadn't got that win today then I think everything would have gone, and that's why at half-time we talked about changing the way we were playing, because we weren't doing enough to complete our ambitions," said the Paraguayan.

"But the team always tries to pull everything out to get what we need, and today we did it again.

"We know we are not depending on ourselves anymore.

"But if we can pick up the six points that are left then we'll see what happens after that - we'll either be lucky or unlucky."

For an hour yesterday, it looked as if Rovers were going to leave the South Coast frustrated as they struggled to break down a stubborn Pompey rearguard.

However, a shrewd tactical switch from Hughes, who ditched his 4-2-3-1 formation and shoved Santa Cruz up front alongside Jason Roberts, then paid handsome dividends.

"We needed to win the game and at some point, if it was still level, I always had it in mind to push Roque into a more advanced position, and that seemed to work for us," said the Rovers boss.

"Obviously, Portsmouth have got a lot of power and pace in midfield so that was the thinking behind the original formation.

"But we coped with that and then decided to push Roque up front alongside Jason and it came off for us.

"In fairness, I thought the two guys up front really set the tone for the whole performance and the result - they were exceptional."