I'M certainly not complaining, but over the last couple of seasons I've found it's sometimes easier to pen the column when things aren't quite going according to plan.

In much the same way, a manager whose team are 4-0 up at half-time must struggle to find much to say apart from "same again lads".

And have you ever noticed that when a team is flying, radio phone-ins go strangely silent but the airwaves are jammed with supporters desperate to have their say when the sticky stuff hits the fan.

So having recorded three Premiership wins on the bounce for the first time since being promoted it's "well done lads, keep it going!" and goodnight from me.

In all seriousness though, there was probably enough scope for improvement on Saturday's display to allow for a certain amount of constructive criticism without hopefully being destructive.

The result was of course hugely encouraging and sets us up nicely for tilt at a European spot over the next nine games. Let's hope we can give it a real good go. Try as I might, I can't somehow picture Charlton in the UEFA Cup or Everton in the Champions League.

It's no surprise to me that this best sequence of recent times has coincided with a seemingly new found resolve.

The team have dug in and scrapped for the results as if their life depended on it and I can't help thinking that if we'd approached quite a few earlier games, (those Sunday home fixtures following European adventures spring to mind) with the same grit and determination we'd be in even healthier shape than we are presently.

Not to worry, the recent improvement is most welcome, and if we can keep the same level of motivation going we might even start to see half decent performances against the lesser lights like Bolton and Fulham to compliment what increasingly seem to be customary victories against top four sides in the shape of Arsenal and Newcastle.

The disappointing feature of Saturday's game was that although we dug in to earn the points, we seemingly took our foot off the gas after playing City off the pitch for the first twenty or twenty five minutes.

After dominating that opening period we inexplicably conceded control of the midfield and the remainder of the game made for uneasy viewing. On another day the visitors would have gone back to Moss Side with at least a point. It's by no means the first time this scenario has been played out at Ewood this season.

On several occasions early dominance has given way to a rearguard action, sometimes successful, sometimes not. You're rarely going to dominate a game for 90 minutes at this level.

However it would be nice to think that at home the team could increasingly have enough confidence in their own ability to take the game by the scruff of the neck the majority of the time.

Still the result was right and several individual performances boded well for the remainder of the campaign. Berg and Taylor proved just as solid a partnership as Berg and Short. Goalscorer David Dunn was again outstanding before lack of match fitness took it's toll.

I've been the player's biggest supporter during his recent difficulties and it's now down to him to get his conditioning to a level where we can enjoy 90 minutes every week like the first 20 on Saturday. Hakan Sukur made a promising debut and will benefit from a couple more games.

With players of that calibre reaching full fitness and Duff still to be unleashed, the next couple of months could well prove extremely interesting.