STUART Pearce today sifted through the wreckage of another demoralising 90 minutes at Blackburn and declared that there were no splits in the Blues camp.

Joey Barton and Bernardo Corradi were pictured in a heated exchange at Ewood Park and pre-match comments from the England midfielder and skipper Richard Dunne appeared to point at a divide in the squad.

But Pearce, who is still under intense scrutiny having earned a stay of execution after the board were in informal discussions throughout yesterday, looked ahead to tomorrow's visit of champions Chelsea by insisting that all is well and that everyone is focused on gaining the nine or ten points he feels are necessary to reach safety.

"I don't think there are splits within the players. They are just frustrated that we cannot score goals. It is the one thing that is holding us back," he said.

"Defensively and spirit wise the camp is pretty good. We can only turn around the negativity by winning the next game.

Spotlight

"We are in the spotlight at the moment and because our results have not been good enough we have left ourselves wide open for critics outside the club and inside it to have a field day.

"That is the nature of the game. We need to galvanise some results and quickly. We probably need nine or ten points to be safe.

"We know things are tough but if the players are pointing fingers at each other then we are not going to go anywhere. They have to let me take the flak and concentrate on winning against Chelsea."

Pearce knows that if no points are gathered from the visit of the champions and they then follow up with a defeat at Middlesbrough on Saturday, then he could well be out of Premiership management by this time next week.

The board have had meetings, both formal and informal, since the deflating defeat by Wigan at the start of the month and are deeply worried by continuing unrest among supporters, particularly as the current run is putting a question mark against new investment from America.

If City do decide enough is enough and say goodbye to Pearce, who under the terms of his contract will not receive compensation, then the list of possible replacements include Graeme Souness, Glenn Hoddle, Ruud Gullit, and Bryan Robson.

If Pearce goes, who would you want to see in charge? Have your say.