A FRUSTRATED Ryan Nelsen has called for a return to the old days after admitting the new-look Rovers have become too cavalier.

Blackburn’s skipper insists Saturday’s 4-0 Arsenal drubbing was rough justice on Paul Ince’s men but has now urged caution, having conceded four for the second successive game.

An Emmanuel Adebayor hat-trick and a Robin Van Persie strike punished some sloppy Rovers defending at Ewood – and left an encouraging home first 45 minutes meaningless.

Nelsen insists their first half domination should give fans plenty of positives but also knows a return to their miserly old selves is crucial to help them climb back up the Premier League.

He said: “It has been really frustrating the last couple of weeks because the performances have been good but we are just leaking some horrendously soft goals.

“It is just finding the right balance at the moment.

"We are trying to play nice attacking football, going forward, and probably don’t have the balance right at the moment and we are becoming a bit open.

“Cavalier is a good word but in saying that it is probably my fault and I should probably keep the reins on the horses a bit.

“We want to play, and play some entertaining football.

"It is a good attitude to have but we have been successful in the past by being tight at the back and we might need to get back to that.”

Chances came and went for a positive Rovers in an entertaining first half on Saturday but, when Adebayor added to Van Persie’s opener on the stroke of half time, the game was lost.

Arsene Wenger’s title-chasing side proceeded to produce an immaculate display of passing football but Nelsen knows the outcome could still have been very different.

He said: “It is really frustrating because we could have been leading at half time. I thought we should have been.

“The performances have been fine but just some slight changes to the balance and we will be fine. Of course we are confident we can put this right because the personnel is great.

“I think Arsenal’s passing is second to none, they have the ability to do that.

"It can be fantastic football and fantastic to watch but the frustrating thing for us is we could have had two or three goals in that first half.

“I think that is probably the difference between the game at the moment.”

All pre-match talk was centred around the Newcastle United managerial farce and speculation from the North East that Ince could soon be heading for St James.

But Nelsen was not about to use that as an excuse for Saturday’s result, claiming any suggestion they were about to lose their manager was laughable.

He said: “The speculation has not unsettled us at all.

"There are always rumours about Paul Ince, about the camp, about spirits being bad and all that.

“First he is not good enough and now he is linked with Newcastle, where do all these stories come from? What are you guys doing here?

“Trying to kick the guy out and yet he is good enough at Newcastle?

"He has been fantastic since he has got here. As I say we will play some good football, we just need to tweak that balance a bit more.”

Rovers are reportedly looking to bring in Dutch winger Ugur Yildirim in for a trial.