There is a growing sense that we may just be witnessing something special, everything coming together at just the right time.

Jon Dahl Tomasson has his side battling and believing, and playing with an intensity that makes you question just where they are summoning the energy from.

Confidence is oozing through the young side, and a standout performance, and victory, will make even the biggest doubters begin to believe.

Tomasson’s calm persona will ensure the players won’t ever get carried away, but it will be hard not to for those watching in the stands.

Ewood was rocking, and rightly so.

The home crowd roared forward their side who responded with a display which left the second-placed Blades bewildered.

If the Leicester City cup win was everything Tomasson is asking from his side encapsulated into one 90 minutes, then this was equally Rovers at their best.

The goal that decided the game was a moment of brilliance, left back Harry Pickering finishing off a team move which saw Rovers go from their own box to the back of the opposition net in just a handful of seconds.

They pressed and snarled, hassled and harried, and then showed their resilience to see out a fifth consecutive clean sheet at Ewood Park where Rovers have now won 12 of their 17 home matches, the joint-most of any Championship campaign since relegation from the Premier League.

Rovers are now up to 58 points, a tally they haven’t bettered in four of the last nine completed Championship seasons. They have won 18 games, one behind the whole of last season.

The numbers are stacking up, but so too are the performances.

This was a fourth 1-0 win in their last eight home games, though the contrast between this and successes against Cardiff City, Huddersfield Town and Swansea City was startling, not least given the quality of opposition.

Rovers took the game to the Blades, waves of attacks at the start of the second half reminiscent of the approach at Leicester City.

On this occasion they couldn’t find a second goal their pressure deserved, but they were again able to lean on their resilience, marshalled by the unflappable Dom Hyam, to see the game out with relatively few scares.

Huge praise must be placed on Rovers’ planning and conditioning.

They have managed their options to perfection.

Lewis Travis looks a player reborn after a spell out of the side, and 18 members of the squad have now played at least 20 games.

Sam Szmodics and Tyrhys Dolan have not just filled the shoes of Bradley Dack and Ben Brereton, but will prove tough to shift from the side given their contributions.

It is Rovers’ collective therefore that has been key, this very much a squad effort, with Harry Pickering becoming the 13th different scorer this season.

While the goals may not be flowing at Ewood, their defensive record means that one is often more than enough. A real positive in the recent run of results though has been their chance creation, their play deserving of more than the one goal they scored, as it was against Blackpool.

The goal they scored was a devastating counter-attack just five minutes in.

Sorba Thomas and Szmodics led the charge, with Dolan taking up the attack to find the overlapping Pickering to thump home the opener.

The response from the Blades was good, their individual quality and shape posing Rovers issues, though their threat was limited to a long-range Sande Berge strike and a mazy Chris Basham run that saw him slip at the vital moment as he shot tamely into the arms of Aynsley Pears.

Rovers were working hard off the ball, while on it, they sprang forward in numbers on the break, going close to a second in what was developing into a frantic affair as Dolan thundered a shot against the frame of the goal from Thomas’ cut-back.

The game was delicately poised therefore at the break, yet Rovers flew out of the blocks to take charge at the start of the second half and camped themselves in United territory.

The Blackburn End played its part, though the players needed little invitation in a rampant spell.

The closest they came to doubling their advantage saw the tireless Szmodics dink the ball over Wes Fotheringham, only to be denied by the bar.

The Blades have too much quality for Rovers to have had it all their own way, and there was a momentum shift as their five substitutes, all made before the 75th minute, and switch in shape, started to take effect.

Yet Pears was well guarded by those infront of him, Oli McBurnie turning a Jack Robinson shot straight at the Rovers’ stopper, whose main threat to his clean sheet looked to come from long throws and set plays.

Rovers negotiated those with relative comfort though, and they weren’t to be denied.

With expectation comes pressure, and as the games tick down that will only ramp up.

The run of form that Rovers are on make it hard to go under the radar.

That is where Tomasson’s role becomes key. He has a winning mentality, instilled into him during an illustrious playing career, while his managerial CV shows he can handle the pressure moments too.

That could well be pivotal.

The evidence so far points to the fact Tomasson will have things mapped out in his head.

He knows there will be bumps in the road, and it will be managing those, more than it will the highs, that will prove the biggest challenge.

Tomasson could well prove to be Rovers’ biggest asset both now, and moving forward, his own reputation being enhanced by the job that he is doing.

Under his guidance, a mix of his demeanour and tactical acumen, Rovers are greater than a sum of their parts. It is all about the collective, but the influence of the head coach is undeniably key.

He has Rovers performing not only above expectation, but ahead of schedule, though they can’t afford to look back from the position they find themselves in.