WHILE I have a deep sympathy for the players and managers at football clubs at this time of year having to cope with four games in 10 days on their thousands of pound a week, I have to say that it's a great time for fans.

Wall-to-wall football might be hard for the weary professional players but when the option is shopping, the football fan can fill his boots.

To be fair, on occasions over the last few games especially, Rovers players have looked pretty much out on their feet but to their credit they've battled through and never once wavered in their commitment. So much so that seven points from 12 is a magnificent return and has gone some way towards pulling us clear of the mire at the bottom.

At times it's not pretty to watch but the one thing that this set of players have in abundance under the new manager is commitment.

In the second half at Bolton in particular, every man jack in that Rovers team gave every ounce of effort to preserve that lead in the face of a continual aerial bombardment.

It's no exaggeration to say we'd have capitulated in days gone by but the defence in particular held firm with Johansson and Todd absolutely magnificent at the heart of it.

The latter has made an absolute mockery of Souness's earlier decision to freeze him out of the team. To be honest I'd never really rated him that highly and had him down as more of a 'reliable journeyman' but this season his performances have been nothing short of outstanding and he must now be the first name on the team sheet.

It says a hell of a lot for his character that he's turned his Ewood career around in this way and on current form we're lucky to have him.

So while all the optimism around the club is great and, let's face it, it's a massive departure from the norm, it's important that a sense of perspective is kept. We're still only a couple of defeats away from being sucked back into the dogfight and the same work ethic that has given us breathing space must be maintained.

On now to what could be considered a tricky FA Cup tie away at Cardiff this Saturday.

Now if there's one thing that has disappointed Rovers fans more than most over the past 12 years or so it's been the lack of a run in this competition, and this year would be a good time to change that statistic for the better.

We all know that the priority is Premiership survival - God knows we heard Souness say it enough, but a good run in this would give the fans something to really look forward to.

It was one of Jack Walker's big wishes that his beloved club got to an FA Cup final. While that may be a long shot, we owe it to the great man to give it our best shot for a change.