TWO home games, four points, thanks largely to heroics from big Brad and Duncan Disorderly's kind backpass. A very acceptable return given our current defensive injury woes.

Your sheepish correspondent has had to eat lots of humble pie this weekend following Ciccio Grabbi's performance against Everton.

Up to that point I'd been completely unconvinced by his performances and long-term prospects and roundly condemned him to friends and on the Supporters' Site.

Most people leapt stoutly to his defence and if Saturday's performance was anything to go by they're probably right.

Well done Ciccio, more of the same please!

I think Grabbi's performance owed no small part to the rapturous reception accorded him by the Blackburn End on Wednesday night after he hit the bar and was later substituted.

After a less than auspicious start with the club, he must have been delighted with the positive reaction he received and well done to everyone concerned for that.

This surely highlights something Souey stressed pre-season, the value of getting behind the team and individual players as much as possible in good and (crucially) not so good times when perhaps you don't feel like it as much.

I think Rovers fans are better than most in this respect. Witness the Everton fans' treatment of Walter "You don't know what you're doing" Smith for daring to make a substitution they didn't agree with.

Football remains "a funny old game." After the Bolton game I was feeling distinctly downbeat. Good performances but reduced by injury to three senior defenders and forced to play 3-5-2.

The words "cow's behind" and "banjo" sprang to mind about the forwards. A point a game from six matches, statistically speaking relegation form.

Three days later, by far our worst performance but three points, our first clean sheet and a nosebleed from temporarily occupying sixth spot.

A false position certainly in the sense many other teams have played less games, but maybe not a false position in terms of what should have been had chances been taken.

Something else struck me while flicking through Teletext.

A common saying in football is that over the course of a season "the table never lies." I would go even further and say that with the odd exception you can get a pretty good picture after just two or three games.

And look at the table five weeks into the season. Top of table: Leeds, Bolton, (OK even Carlisle topped the League briefly in 1974) Arsenal, Man United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Rovers.

Bottom six: Southampton, Leicester, Derby, lpswich, Charlton, West Ham. Bolton apart, look about right? It does to me. Let's hope the current table accurately reflects the end-of-season one.

Having praised Ciccio I must also give honourable mentions to our other new recruits.

Lucas Neill looks as if he could be the snip of the season at £600,000 and what can be said about Tugay?

As Souey promised us he barely ever wastes a pass, but the thing I've noticed most is that he has that special talent of always giving the impression of having lots of time on the ball even when surrounded. Having met him while out and about this week he's also a very nice bloke as well. So it's off to Villa Park on Sunday to bellow in Schmeichel's ear. Let's hope defensive reinforcements are in place by then as I'm sure no-one really fancies three at the back away from home.

The next two away games against a rejuvenated Villa and the Gunners could well prove the stiffest tasks to date.

If we come through those unscathed maybe that table won't be so far wrong after all.