text: A mere 53 hours to kick-off and all is serene at the training base of Queens Park Rangers. Mowers clip along on distant pitches as the sun beats down and the whitewashed pavilion is brightened by pots of forget-me-nots, a flower which could be adopted as the emblem of relegation. QPR boss Chris Ramsey appears relaxed and untroubled, insisting he had more sleepless nights coaching Tottenham last season and joking about the difference between Lidl and Waitrose. His job is to chase pressure and negativity away at times like this, but beneath the surface fear tightens its grip on those near the drop zone. QPR boss Chris Ramsey (centre) is one of seven managers trying to keep their club in the Premier League . Ramsey's side host West Ham on Saturday as they look to climb out of the relegation zone with four games left . Cesc Fabregas' 88th minute strike saw Chelsea grab a late 1-0 win at QPR earlier this month . It will be the same at Newcastle, Aston Villa, Leicester, Sunderland and Hull. Even at Burnley, where Sean Dyche was keen on Thursday to stress his club feel no pressure because their financial commitments are so much less than their rivals. ‘We are probably half the wage bill of the next team in the division, let alone all the superpowers, and half the spending of the next team in the division,’ said Dyche. The financial implications are bigger for others but there still exists a fear of sporting failure, a fear of letting people down, a fear of losing your job, your status, security, your self-esteem. These everyday, human anxieties trouble Premier League footballers, too. When Cesc Fabregas celebrated Chelsea’s winner in the 88th minute at Loftus Road two weeks ago, Ramsey curled into a ball on the touchline and bottled up his fury until he was well clear of the dressing room. ‘It was old-school,’ he smiled. ‘I was a little bit angry. The cat was running. I was so disappointed, probably the most disappointed I’ve been. It was a very soft goal and it would have given us a massive lift to know we could compete with a team of that calibre.’ Four of the bottom seven did not play in the Barclays Premier League last weekend and watched helplessly as Leicester won again, tightening the pack. Burnley manager Sean Dyche says his side have had to compete with the smallest wage budget in the league . NEWCASTLE . Swansea (Home) - April 25 . Leicester (Away) - May 2 . West Brom (Home) - May 9 . QPR (Away) - May 16 . West Ham (Home) - May 24 . ASTON VILLA . Man City (Away) - April 25 . Everton (Home) - May 2 . West Ham (Home) - May 9 . Southampton (Away) - May 16 . Burnley (Home) - May 24 . SUNDERLAND . Stoke (Away) - April 25 . Southampton (Home) - May 2 . Everton (Away) - May 9 . Leicester (Home) - May 16 . Arsenal (Away) - May 20 . Chelsea (Away) - May 24 . HULL . Crystal Palace (Away) - April 25 . Liverpool (Home) - April 28 . Arsenal (Home) - May 2 . Burnley (Home) - May 9 . Tottenham (Away) - May 16 . Man United (Home) - May 24 . LEICESTER . Burnley (Away) - April 25 . Chelsea (Home) - April 29 . Newcastle (Home) - May 2 . Southampton (Home) - May 9 . Sunderland (Away) - May 16 . QPR (Home) - May 24 . QPR . West Ham (Home) - April 25 . Liverpool (Away) - May 2 . Man City (Away) - May 9 . Newcastle (Home) - May 16 . Leicester (Away) - May 24 . BURNLEY . Leicester (Home) - April 25 . West Ham (Away) - May 2 . Hull (Away) - May 9 . Stoke (Home) - May 16 . Aston Villa (Away) - May 24 . Note: Fixtures in May subject to change for television schedule. Having reached the point where all seemed lost, perhaps the pressure left Nigel Pearson’s team. They have won three on the bounce. Now, off the bottom at last, it will get tense again as they head for Turf Moor. Pearson said: ‘I’m delighted. It’s a very difficult feat to achieve for any side, let alone one on the foot of the table. But we’re not in a position to sit back and enjoy it. ‘My perspective is that we’re still in the bottom three. The danger is there’s an assumption the hard work is done. Far from it.’ Sunderland’s Dick Advocaat and QPR’s Ramsey have fixed their survival targets at 35 points. Hull’s Steve Bruce thinks he might get away with 34. At Newcastle, John Carver has 35 and is still uneasy. Leonardo Ulloa was on the scoresheet as Leicester  beat Swansea 2-0 in the Premier League on April 18 . That win elevated Nigel Pearson's (right) side off the bottom of the table and into 18th in the Premier League . Newcastle manager John Carver believes his team need four points from five games to avoid relegation . How the league form table looks like as of April 23 . ‘You can never tell,’ said Carver. ‘For me, we need four points from five games. The unexpected can happen. Look at Sunderland.’ Sunderland were last year’s Houdini: bottom with six to play and doomed according to many by virtue of a daunting fixture list. Then they drew at Manchester City, won at Chelsea and Manchester United and then beat relegation rivals Cardiff and West Brom. They lost the last game and still finished in 14th, five points clear, helped by Connor Wickham’s burst of five goals in three games. Wickham has scored only four since - no-one at Sunderland has more in the Premier League this season — and these acts of escapology are more difficult without a goal supply. Christian Benteke with eight in seven has boosted Aston Villa. ‘For him to be at a club fighting at the bottom is a mismatch,’ said Tim Sherwood, but Villa still require points as they head to Manchester City. QPR have 17-goal Charlie Austin. Will he be enough? Burnley have Danny Ings, almost out of contract and without a goal in more than two months. Hull’s top scorer Nikica Jelavic is injured. The cost of relegation is estimated at £60million by football finance expert Professor Rob Wilson of Sheffield Hallam University. Connor Wickham scored five goals in three games last season to help Sunderland avoid relegation . ‘We normally say promotion is worth £100-120m,’ said Professor Wilson. ‘Relegation is harder to quantify. Clubs won’t get the full TV rights payment which is about £80m but they will get parachute payments. Sponsors pay a premium for the Premier League and those deals will end and salaries can quickly eat up this smaller revenue if there are no clauses to reduce wages or allow a quick sale. ‘For a club’s first season in the Championship it’s in the region of a £60m direct cut in revenue.’ Fates unknown, clubs sketch out alternative recruitment strategies. QPR have a dozen players out of contract and, should they go down, Football League penalties are pending for breaking Financial Fair Play rules last season. Charlie Austin has scored 17 goals in the league for QPR this season - but they still find themselves in 19th . Relegated clubs will receive a parachute payment of £25m next season, followed by £20m in 2016-17 and two more of £10m if they do not go back up, as fewer seem to do. No team has bounced straight back with automatic promotion from the Championship since Newcastle and West Bromwich Albion in 2010. West Ham and QPR rebounded via the play-offs and Norwich are in the race this year. The Championship is an unforgiving pit to fall into, with 17 managerial sackings this season and an average tenure of less than a year. ‘Football has its own laws,’ said Ramsey. ‘I’d be shopping in Lidl instead of Waitrose. I’ll have a different shopping basket if I look at it from a personal point of view.’ It's truly squeaky bum time in the Premier League relegation battle as just nine points separates the bottom seven teams. Sportsmail asks some of the managers in and among the dog fight what they feel is required for them to avoid the drop this season. CHRIS RAMSEY (QPR) 'If we win three games I think we will stay up. It might take less. I'm not saying that's the definitive amount - but we really need to start winning, starting with this weekend. To do that, we need to concentrate right to the end and make sure that our performances stay similar with a bit more defensive resilience.' QPR manager Ramsey (centre) feels they will avoid relegation if they win three more league games . TIM SHERWOOD (Aston Villa) 'I don't know how many points it will take. We've done alright. Nothing's been achieved yet. I'm a new voice and given them a lot of belief and confidence that they are better than what they were showing. They have managed to score a few more goals and have real belief they can go to places and win. Something was probably a little bit missing previously. I want to make sure that I don't take my foot off pedal. I'll make sure the players don't.' Tim Sherwood (left) believes his appointment at Aston Villa has given them a lot of belief and confidence . NIGEL PEARSON (Leicester) 'We've put ourselves in a position now where we have a more realistic chance. That's where we are. If it raises optimism elsewhere, fine. If it applies a bit more pressure on other sides around us, fine also. But as far as I'm concerned it's about making sure we're back to business when we play Burnley. Because it's a really big game for both sides. We've got players in decent form. We want to keep the work ethic that we've shown all season.' Leicester City manager Pearson (right) hopes his side can continue their momentum against Burnley . SEAN DYCHE (Burnley) 'The biggest psychological difference is that others are talking about relegation. Our fuel is about staying in the Premier League. It's a slightly different twist. 'Others are scared of relegation. We're not scared of relegation because we were told by everyone we were going to get relegated. We are actually looking for the goal of being in the Premier League.' Dyche insists his side aren't scared of relegation as a lot of people have written them off in the past .
target: Just nine points separates the bottom seven clubs in the Premier League .
  Burnley sit bottom of the table on 26 points after 33 games in the league .
  Newcastle are 14th in the table on 35 points with five games remaining .