Blackburn Rovers clawed their way out of the Premier League relegation zone when they won 2-1 at Fulham [ Images ] with a late winner from Jason Roberts on Wednesday.

Roberts secured three vital points for Rovers and sent Fulham sliding to their third home defeat in a week when he scored the winner five minutes from time, out muscling Tony Kallio to power a shot past Fulham keeper Mark Schwarzer.

Fulham went ahead in the second minute when Clint Dempsey [ Images ] latched on to Danny Murphy's header and got the better of Ryan Nelsen to score.

Blackburn equalised after 69 minutes when El-Hadji Diouf, their recent signing from Sunderland, scored with a tap-in at the far post.

The result left Fulham in 10th place and Blackburn climbed three places to 15th.

Portsmouth, Middlesbrough and West Bromwich Albion [ Images ] fill the relegation places.