I WAS always told never to take anything for granted and, believe me, no-one at Rovers thinks that we have won our battle for survival now that we've got out of the bottom three.

But it is nice not to have to look at the table and see that we are in the relegation zone.

That win over Ipswich on Wednesday was absolutely crucial.

Our first half display was one of our best and it was great to be involved in Andy Cole's goal.

He took that brilliantly - and as for Damien Duff's sole effort, that was just different class too.

Like against Aston Villa, we did look a little nervous in the second half, especially when Marcus Stewart equalised.

But, like against Villa again, we clung on to take the points - that was the important thing.

It's good to play entertaining football and, under Graeme Souness, that is always something we will be striving to do, but in our situation it's the result that matters at the moment.

Also, credit must be given to both Villa and Ipswich for the way they came back at us in the second period of the game. It's easy to forget that both teams contain quality players.

Let's hope we can keep the run going against Leeds on Sunday.

That's a massive match for both clubs.

Leeds have had a sticky patch since Christmas, and ex-Rovers boss Brian Kidd came in for some stick recently from the fans, but they too ground out a win over Ipswich and are still chasing a Champions' League place.

As for us, it's another vital game as we seek to go further up the table.

It's so tight at the bottom that the one victory over Ipswich moved us up four places in the table.

But it's going to be another big occasion for us in front of the television cameras.

I know we keep going on about it, but the Worthington Cup win at Cardiff has given everyone a boost and something to build on for the rest of the season.

And it's been good to have some new faces around the place in Hakan Unsal and Yordi and both seem to have settled in well.

Leeds will be a tough test, especially as Mark Viduka and Alan Smith will be free to play after getting off their disciplinary cases yesterday.

And I'm sure David Batty and Jason Wilcox will be looking to do well against their old club - and I'm sure Mr Kidd will have one or two things to say too.

If we can come back to Blackburn with the three points then that will be a real boost.

But, regardless of the results, we know there is a lot of hard work still to do between now and the end of the season.