"ALL you need is Duff" goes the Blackburn end's version of the famous Beatles song. On Saturday it was a good job that was true.

On the day the Irishman was so superior to the other 21 players on the pitch it was frightening. I think I caught Garry Flitcroft claiming on the radio afterwards that the team were tired because it was only their second game in three weeks. Make up your mind, fellas! Earlier in the season sub-par performances were put down to playing too many games in quick succession. You can't have it both ways.

Flitty's remarks raised a chuckle but in all seriousness the team are currently above reproach. With six wins out of seven we're the form team of the division. We're also top of the Clean Sheets League (13 along with Liverpool and Chelsea).

The players really do deserve every credit for the new-found resolve apparent during our recent run. Earlier in the season a performance like Saturday's would have resulted in a draw or 1-0 defeat. Not now. Dare I say we are starting to show the steel of 'a Souness'?

And despite a flat overall display there were still some excellent individual performances. As mentioned above, Duff was the difference. I did have an uncomfortable moment or two afterwards wondering how we would cope on an afternoon like that if we ever lost his services. So it was good to hear Souey making more positive post-match comments about keeping him.

As I heard one fan put it: "Selling him would be like the story of the man who sold his TV to buy a video." And frankly even then you don't know if you're going to end up with one of those dodgy overpriced foreign videos that don't work in this country.

In defence Berg and Short were immaculate. And in midfield, with Dunn and Flitcroft not at their best, Tugay did his best to keep us moving with an exquisite performance reminiscent of his best form last year.

The three points kept our UEFA ambitions very much alive, but we still need a strong finish to the season. Until I looked at the regulations last week I was under the impression the top six qualified for the UEFA Cup. Not so it seems. We need to finish fifth to guarantee qualification. Sixth will only be good enough in the event of Liverpool finishing fifth. In effect this means we have to finish above Everton whatever happens so a Liverpool victory in Saturday's Merseyside derby would therefore be the preferred result from our point of view.

That is unless of course we can pull off a double against Merchandising United. I really do feel we owe a duty of care to the Premier League in this respect.

Having already completed a double over United's nearest rivals Arsenal, it really is only fair that we redress the balance by doing likewise over Fergie's charges.