ASHLEY Ward believes Rovers proved a point as well as earned one at Vale Park on Saturday.

The Ewood club have been fiercely criticised this season as people have questioned whether or not Ward and his multi-million pound team-mates could hack life in the First Division.

But Ward believes Rovers have proved a few people wrong thanks to a gritty performance.

"Some people probably look on us as 'fancy dans' and they might have thought we would have come here and not fancied the weather and everything," said Ward.

"But we dug in as well as they did and a point was a fair result.

"They were terrible conditions - probably as bad as I've ever played in.

"There was a swirling wind, hail stones, the pitch was very, very wet and it was difficult to say on your feet.

"So we were just happy to get a point out of that because it could have gone either way.

"But full marks to both defences because they had to stick their heads in on a day like that to make sure that they kept clean sheets."

It's been good week for Rovers and Ward, in particular, who have now gone six games unbeaten.

Saturday's point came hot on the heels of two victories over Stockport and Charlton.

And, though this wasn't a classic, it provided further evidence of the transformation since Brian Kidd was sacked.

"Tony has always done well whenever he has taken over and everyone is delighted for him," said Ward.

"We've picked up some great results under him and this was potentially a banana skin because of the conditions.

"And we would have settled for a point before the game. "Four points from our last two away games is a good tally and hopefully we can build on that at home."

Meanwhile, Vale boss Brian Horton was also happy with his side as they extended their own unbeaten run to six games.

But the former Manchester City chief felt if anyone deserved to nick it then it was his side.

"It was a decent performance considering what they've spent and what we've spent," said Horton.

"But I think it was going to take something a little bit special to open things up.

"They were quite solid and we were solid but I thought we had the better opportunities.

"We just needed a little bit more creativity from somewhere but it keeps the run going."

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