MARK Hughes recently had a poster erected at Blackburn Rovers' Brockhall training base that perfectly sums up his whole philosophy on football.

The billboard-size image dominates the main reception area at the senior training centre and your eyes are immediately drawn to the message emblazoned across it.

In letters so big they are impossible to ignore, it states: Preparation is half the victory.

How ironic then that in a week when Hughes is trying to hammer home a message to his players, this tame and, sometimes tepid, North West derby seemed to perfectly illustrate the point for him.

Hughes had approached this trip to the City of Manchester Stadium with an air of trepidation, knowing that his preparations had been thrown into turmoil by a gruelling international fixture list.

With seven members of his squad away in various far-flung corners of the globe in the week prior to this game, Hughes knew it was asking a lot to expect them to hit the same heights they reached in the 4-1 demolition of Charlton Athletic the previous fortnight.

But, such is the confidence in the Rovers camp these days, Hughes and his players still left Eastlands bemoaning the loss of two points rather than being content with the one that they gained courtesy of a gritty second half rearguard action.

Almost a year ago to the day, Rovers had pitched up in this same blue half of Manchester as the bottom club in the Premier League, desperate for any kind of result to breathe some life into their flagging relegation fight.

On that day, they grabbed a point thanks to Paul Dickov's late equaliser, but it's a sign of how far they have come under Hughes in the intervening 12 months that expectations are now far greater.

A win on Saturday, coupled with favourable results elsewhere, would have lifted Rovers up to the heady heights of fifth position in the table - an amazing turnaround considering the mess Hughes inherited from Graeme Souness last September.

And no one epitomises that new sense of belief more than David Thompson, who returned to the side for the first time in six months after battling back from knee and ankle injuries. "To be fair, we came here looking to win," said the resurgent midfielder, who got a rousing reception when he entered the fray as a second half substitute.

"We weren't coming here looking to play five in midfield with the intention of trying to get a point, we came here looking to take all three because that's how confident we are at the minute.

"We are playing well, we've got good players, and we are playing 4-4-2, which speaks for itself because a lot of teams are playing 4-5-1 now.

"Last season, we weren't confident coming to places like this, but this season confidence is high, we know we are fit, we know we are strong, and we know that we are playing well."

Hughes would have loved to send his players out with the message 'same again' as he looked to keep the momentum going from that invigorating performance against Charlton, but international exertions meant that was practically impossible.

In fact, Lucas Neill and Brett Emerton, two of Rovers' leading lights in that victory, were not even considered for this game because they were still suffering from the physical and emotional effects of Australia's World Cup play-off with Uruguay.

Of the rest, Craig Bellamy and Morten Gamst Pedersen, who were both scorers in the slaying of the Addicks, also appeared to have lost some of their sparkle as a consequence of their international commitments during the week.

And Zurab Khizanishvili, a member of the Georgian side that lost to Bulgaria in a friendly, was not the dominant force he can be at right back as he struggled to contain the lively Darius Vassell whenever the quicksilver City striker drifted out wide.

That said, Rovers, inspired by the talismanic Tugay, still bossed large periods of the first half as they shifted the ball around impressively in midfield.

City were clearly missing the ball-winning skills of the suspended Joey Barton and that allowed Tugay to dictate the tempo from his deep-lying position in front of the back four.

At times in the opening half hour, Rovers passed the ball around as if they were the home side, weaving intricate patterns across the middle of midfield.

But, for all Rovers' neat approach play, the final ball often lacked the necessary quality to unlock a stubborn City defence.

The closest they came in the first half was a shot from Tugay that took a deflection off Danny Mills and rippled the side-netting.

City's best effort was a volley from Kiki Musampa that flashed inches wide of the far post.

The second half was a non-event in terms of goalmouth action; in fact, neither keeper made a save of note in the entire 90 minutes.

Ryan Nelsen, back in the side after a knee injury, made a timely intervention to prevent Vassell from poaching his sixth goal of a prolific season.

Then former Rover, Andy Cole, who was generally well shadowed by Andy Todd, momentarily found a yard of space to eek out a shot that was deflected wide for a corner.

The mercury rose for a brief second when Mills appeared to catch Pedersen in the face with a flailing arm in an off-the-ball incident, but referee Martin Atkinson deemed any contact accidental.

In a bizarre climax, City boss Stuart Pearce, clearly irritated by what he perceived to be deliberate time-wasting tactics, raced out of his technical area to field the ball as it rolled out of play and promptly ran onto the pitch to plant it under the nose of a startled Robbie Savage.

That led to a stern ticking off for the former England international, who was left frustrated by one of the most improved sides in the Premiership.