"WHEN he gets the ball he's bound to score - Andy Andy Cole!"

Despite watching him in a red shirt for the last seven years, Rovers fans will have had little difficulty in mentally re-arranging a few words of the above ditty following the performances of our newest recruit last week!.

I marched into the ground on Saturday with real optimism for the first time in several months.

Instead of worrying "Who's going to score today?" I was wondering "How many are we going to score?"

My confidence was justified in the first half as only profligate finishing prevented us from going in at half time at least four goals to the good.

"Hoof the ball up in the air" was replaced by a slick "pass and move" style of play.

I agree with Graeme Souness when he says that Cole was even better than he was expecting.

Not only do we appear to have a prolific goalscorer, we have someone whose movement is superb, whose work rate sets an example, and whose mere presence seems to have extracted a huge increase in performance from the other players.

Jansen looked like a man reborn. Cole's work-rate seemed to inspire Dunn and the interchanges between Cole, Dunn, Tugay, Jansen and Duff were a joy to behold.

Only one new player, but like watching a totally different team.

Bjornybe's unbelievable second half error rocked us back on our heels and more than a few anxious moments ensued before the sending off shifted the balance of play back in our favour. A couple of late goals brought a collective sigh of relief, a more realistic look to the scoreline and three crucial points.

Earlier in the week our first major Cup Final in 42 years came a step closer after a hard earned win at Hillsborough.

The result was better than the performance. Wednesday roared out of the traps like they'd been fed on raw meat and will no doubt be similarly motivated a week today.

Hopefully Tony Parkes will be on hand to banish any dressing room complacency with horror stories about Crystal Palace and the play-offs!

Well done both clubs for charging reduced prices and to the Rovers board for repeating the gesture made for the Birmingham and Grimsby games last season, by offering free coach travel.

We have the Barnsley FA Cup replay tomorrow night and a tricky little fixture on Saturday. Some view the Cup as an unwelcome distraction, I can't see too many problems with it.

We have a large senior squad and the games offer the opportunity to keep the fringe players sharp. As far as United are concerned, suffice to say that this game is just set up for a certain Mr. A. Cole Esq. to score the winner.

Finally, last week we were treated to yet more shining wit from my esteemed fellow columnist.

Poor Stephen. It's hardly surprising his thoughts turned to us over the holiday period. Enforced inactivity for his team. Nothing to do but remind himself of the meaning of "inconsequential" in the dictionary. And all because the undersoil heating doesn't work. Or did someone forget to feed the coins into the meter?