ROVERS have become the tabloid headline writer's dream during the past few weeks with the reports of in-fighting at Ewood.

I won't dwell too much on the events behind the scenes as they always seem to involve the same individuals. What I will say is that whatever problems there are need to be put aside while we are battling for survival.

One thing's for certain, if the problems between the parties cannot be solved in the long term, which I suspect is the case, it's a battle that the manager must win or his position at the club will be untenable.

There's nothing like inner turmoil to get the hack's mouths watering and the news filtering out of the camp last week must have had the media vultures circling.

All it needed was the expected defeat to materialise at Villa Park and the obituaries of the club were ready to be written as the inexorable slide towards relegation gathered pace.

There's nothing like strength in adversity though.

'Win, not whinge' was Souness's battle cry to the players on Saturday.

Quite ironic when you consider who has done most of the whinging this season, but it seemed to do the trick as an unlikely win was claimed against one of the Premiership's form teams.

Just when you want the players to create that 'siege mentality' we finally do just that. A solid defensive performance lays the foundations for us to nick a couple of goals and three priceless points in the process. When you consider the other results of the weekend it rams home how important the result was too.

It was a truly massive win.

So, after the recent uninspiring performances, what changed on Saturday?

As our predicament has got steadily worse, the one thing that has become apparent is the lack of a leader within our ranks. That was until Saturday and the return of Garry Flitcroft.

Now love him or hate him, and he certainly has his critics, his 100 per cent commitment cannot be doubted. Sure, he has his limitations, he's not the best passer in the world and he's not going to smash one in from 30 yards but what he does do is lead by example, and this in turn seems to eke out an extra 10 per cent from those around him.

It's this we've been so lacking in the past few weeks and when push comes to shove in the next few weeks, it's this kind of attitude that'll steer us clear of trouble.