Leicester were plunged deeper into the relegation mire as nervy Blackburn dragged themselves away from the drop zone with a precious victory.

It took an own goal from City defender Nikos Dabizas to hand Rovers only the fourth home win of a disappointing Barclaycard Premiership campaign, but it was perhaps the most valuable yet.

The Greece international found the back of his own net as he attempted to cut out Andy Cole's 42nd-minute cross ahead of Jon Stead, and that proved enough to hand all three points to Graeme Souness' men.

Micky Adams' side never threw in the towel and perhaps shaded the first half, but although they had to survive a tense conclusion Blackburn's second-half display was just about worthy of the result.

City have now been cast adrift of safety on 28 points with Rovers and Portsmouth nine clear of them, and they returned to the east midlands staring down the barrel of a gun.

Their need to collect points has been pressing since the opening day of the season, with Adams knowing from the off that his side would, barring miracles, be engaged in a tooth-and-nail fight for survival throughout the campaign.

Blackburn, however, never expected to be involved at the wrong end of the table, and their plight was not improved before kick-off when Portsmouth pulled off a precious 1-0 win over Manchester United to leapfrog Souness' men and leave them perched precariously above the drop zone.

What was needed from the home side was a rousing home performance.

But what the locals at Ewood Park got for the opening half-hour was much less palatable and illustrated just why Rovers are in trouble.

They struggled to limit a game Leicester in terms of possession and when they did manage to wrestle the ball free, they simply could not keep hold of it.

The youthful exuberance of Stead gave cause for optimism during the early stages, although it was defender Vratislav Gresko, who produced a superb save from Ian Walker with a deflected eighth-minute free-kick, who came closest to opening the scoring, though Martin Andresen did whistle one long-range effort just wide.

However, for all their possession, the Foxes never really troubled Brad Friedel and as so often when a team is struggling to keep its head above water, they were punished.

The City rearguard for once failed to track Cole's 42nd-minute run down the right, and when he squared the ball, Dabizas slid in to deny Stead a tap-in, but could only stab the ball into his own net.

Adams replaced Billy McKinlay with Steffen Freund at the break, but it was the Rovers midfield which belatedly settled into a passing game which had deserted them during the opening 45 minutes.

Gresko fired high over from distance and Stead drove a low shot just wide with Souness' side by now well on top, and Cole responded in style, first racing past Ben Thatcher on the right to send in a cross which was only just too high for Stead before drilling a left-foot effort wide.

However, with the lead the slimmest possible, both sides knew that the points were still very much there for the taking and that there was no margin for error.

Cole might have eased the tension had he hit the target with a 66th-minute volley after tricking his way past Matt Heath, but his side were looking increasingly uncomfortable at the back as James Scowcroft saw a shot deflected just wide and then was only denied an attempt at goal by Gresko's brave defensive header.

Scowcroft had consistently looked the visitors' biggest threat, and he went for goal once again on 76 minutes with an acrobatic overhead kick which was well blocked by Lorenzo Amoruso.

And as Leicester committed men to the desperate hunt for an equaliser, the home side prospered on the break, and it took a timely block by Thatcher to prevent substitute Brett Emerton from cementing victory two minutes later after he had sidefooted a shot towards goal from Stead's intelligent pull-back.

Stead forced another good save from Walker at the death after good work by Cole and Emerton, but Dabizas' contribution proved to be all his side needed.

Teams

Blackburn Friedel, Neill, Amoruso, Short, Gresko, Andresen (Emerton 68), Flitcroft, Tugay, Douglas, Cole, Stead.

Subs Not Used: Reid, Johansson, Gallagher, Enckelman.

Booked: Amoruso, Douglas.

Goals: Dabizas 42 og.

Leicester Walker, Sinclair, Dabizas, Heath (Canero 78), Thatcher, Scowcroft, McKinlay (Freund 45), Izzet, Bent, Ferdinand (Guppy 63), Dickov.

Subs Not Used: Gillespie, Nalis.

Booked: McKinlay.

Att: 22,749

Ref: R Styles (Hampshire).