With 20 games now gone in the Premier League this season for all clubs apart from Tottenham and Everton, there are five sides who need to start winning now if they are to escape the drama of the relegation dogfight sooner rather than later.

Just three points separate rock-bottom Blackburn and fifth-from-bottom Wolves, with QPR, Bolton and Wigan sandwiched between the Ewood Park and Molineux outfits, although there is every chance teams higher in the table could plummet in the second half of the season.

However, for now the alarms bells will be ringing at the current bottom five, with transfer-window dealings and managerial changes very much on the footballing agenda.

WOLVES

Mick McCarthy’s men are in trouble largely because of a terrible away record which shows they have won just once in ten games and have scored just eight times on the road.

But they have already been to the likes of Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea, so surely things will only get better.

Time will tell but a trip to Tottenham this weekend is unlikely to see them start edging their way up the table.

Drop odds: 6/4

Verdict: DOWN

QPR

The Loftus Road outfit have ‘blinked first’ after sacking Neil Warnock on Sunday and now it seems Mark Hughes will succeed him in the W12 hot seat.

‘Sparky’ will need to hit the ground running to halt the Hoops’ alarming run of bad form – especially at home – although his record will command instant respect in the dressing room.

QPR need a striker, centre-half and midfielder as a bare minimum in January to give the squad a boost, while Hughes must get the best out of Shaun Wright-Phillips and Adel Taarabt to name just two players.

Drop odds: 15/8

Verdict: SAFE

BOLTON

The Trotters thumped QPR on the opening day in London but it has been downhill all the way ever since and it looks like star defender Gary Cahill will be on his way this month.

Boss Owen Coyle has a lot of players out of contract in the summer and has already told many of them they are playing for their futures.

But their chance to sign pre-contract agreements elsewhere from January 1 might just backfire on the club and make the slide into the Championship a very possible outcome.

Drop odds: 4/6

Verdict: DOWN

WIGAN

Roberto Martinez seems to enjoy a close relationship with chairman Dave Whelan and it has already survived more than one brush with the drop out of the Premier League.

Somehow Latics seems to carve out results when they need them and it would be a foolish man to doubt the talents of the Spaniard to motivate his men.

Wigan only really get by thanks to Whelan and the fact they have sold on players for big profits and that brings its own problems, but relegation can be staved off again this time around.

Drop odds: 1/2

Verdict: SAFE

BLACKBURN

The fact Warnock went before unpopular Scot Steve Kean is a fact many football fans will be struggling to get their heads around this week.

Add into the mix the fact Rovers have  beaten Arsenal and Manchester United in just three Premier League wins all season and the head scratching could lead to borderline insanity.

However, Kean, who also got a pay rise at the end of 2011, remains in a job and would surely have gone before now if owners Venky’s did not think he was the right man.

Drop odds: 1/2

Verdict: DOWN

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