A brace from David Dunn against his old club Birmingham gave Blackburn a 2-1 win which virtually guarantees their Barclays Premier League survival.
Dunn, who spent three-and-a-half years with the midlands outfit before rejoining Rovers in 2007, fired past Joe Hart after just five minutes to give the hosts the lead.
James McFadden equalised for Birmingham after the break direct from a free-kick before Dunn's 67th-minute header sealed a win that takes Sam Allardyce's team 14 points clear of the relegation zone with seven games to play.
Jason Brown, who was once again deputising in the Rovers goal for the injured Paul Robinson, looked to have made a costly error after only three minutes when he fumbled a cross at the feet of Cameron Jerome, but Martin Olsson was on hand to shepherd the ball from danger.
Just two minutes later, Dunn rifled Blackburn ahead against his former employers, taking down a failed clearance by Roger Johnson and lashing the ball past Hart.
At the other end McFadden almost pulled Birmingham level with a fierce strike from outside the area that Brown did well to turn around the post after it had taken a deflection on its way toward his goal. Liam Ridgewell headed the resulting corner over.
Rovers seemed in control, but within 10 minutes of the restart, they had been pegged back.
Pedersen felt he was hard done by after referee Mark Clattenburg awarded Birmingham a free-kick just outside the box for a push on Johnson, but McFadden stepped up calmly to curl the ball around the Blackburn wall and into the bottom corner of the net.
However 12 minutes later Rovers regained their lead, and Dunn was the hero once more, heading Diouf's corner home from close-range after outmuscling Carr.
McFadden saw an effort cleared and Johnson a shot saved late on, but Blackburn hung on for a win that means they should be able to breathe easy for the rest of the campaign.
Source: PA
