We're young at heart!

GRAEME Souness recently said the task of managing Blackburn Rovers would be a doddle if he had twenty Craig Short's in his squad.

But after watching this bloody battle at St Andrew's, perhaps the Rovers boss may now like to reconsider as one Craig Short would appear to be more than sufficient.

For when it comes to a war, there are few people you'd rather want alongside you in the trenches than Blackburn's man of steel.

As Birmingham striker Christophe Dugarry found to his cost on Saturday, you pick a fight with Short at your peril.

He might not be one of the most elegant players in Souness's squad, but he's surely one of the most crucial judging by his contribution to the cause since returning from a serious knee injury two weeks ago.

Two clean sheets and back-to-back wins for the first time this season are a fair reflection of the difference Short has made to this Rovers side.

But the stats only tell half the story about the ability this thirtysomething has to inspire those around him.

Short was about to challenge for a routine header eleven minutes into this clash at St Andrew's when Dugarry caught the 35-year-old full in the face with a stray elbow.

From where I was sitting, it looked deliberate and TV replays did little to convince me otherwise.

But amazingly, the Frenchman's despicable act of skull-Dugarry went unpunished by referee Graham Barber, even though Short was left sporting a broken nose.

Lesser men than the Blackburn defender would have snapped in similar circumstances and sought instant retribution but instead he picked himself up, dusted himself down, and exacted his revenge with a towering defensive display that left his team-mates in awe of his indomitable fighting spirit.

"No disrespect to anyone who was playing before, but since Craig Short has come back in he's been immense," said Lucas Neill.

"He stamps his authority on the game, he's a great leader, he loves a battle and he certainly got one today.

"It's just another cut for him. He's had so many in his career but he's an old warhorse and he just keeps battling away.

"In actual fact, he likes that side of the game because he knows at some stage he's going to even it up."

Short's contribution was indeed immense as Rovers secured their third win in four games to put some daylight between themselves and the bottom three.

But plenty of his team-mates also rose to the challenge, too, on an afternoon when the visitors had heroes all over the pitch.

Barry Ferguson and Tugay dovetailed brilliantly in the centre of the park where they comfortably overshadowed David Dunn and Robbie Savage.

The two former Rangers stars zipped the ball about with real authority at times, not to mention the fact they both weighed in with eye-catching goals in a scintillating second half.

A word of praise must also go to Neill who provided valuable protection for Vratislav Gresko from his place on the left-hand side of midfield.

And what about the performance of Paul Gallagher?

The 19-year-old striker was confident and inventive up front and he iced Rovers' cake with his first senior goal in the closing stages to put the seal on an excellent day's work.

In contrast, former Ewood favourite Dunn had an afternoon to forget.

The England midfielder was desperate to prove a point to Souness after the pair had a public fall-out last season but the game totally passed him by in midfield where Ferguson was imperious.

Some Blues fans even started to turn on him in the closing stages as they grew frustrated by the sight of yet another over-ambitious pass going astray.

But it was harsh that Dunn bore the brunt of their anger because the reality was Birmingham looked short on quality in every department.

Rovers dominated possession in the opening 45 minutes but it was the Blues who carved out the best chance of the half.

Stan Lazaridis ghosted in on the blind side of Markus Babbel to meet Jeff Kenna's raking cross at the far post but incredibly the Aussie somehow headed over from just six yards out.

The real talking point of the half, though, was the clash between Short and Dugarry which incensed Souness.

How the referee and his assistants failed to spot it remains a mystery.

Surely the FA will not be quite so lenient when they come to study the video.

To make matters worse, Dugarry then pushed his luck even further barely 60 seconds later with a scything tackle on Gresko which left the Slovakian writhing in agony but incredibly Barber took no action again.

Thankfully, Short and Rovers kept their composure and the superior quality of their football began to shine through after the break.

Andy Cole's introduction from the substitutes' bench proved to be the catalyst for a breathtaking spell of incisive football.

In the 66th minute, Cole played an exquisite pass with the outside of his foot straight into the path of Ferguson who was breaking into the box and the former Ibrox star kept his cool to slide a measured finish beyond Maik Taylor into the far corner.

Then two minutes later, Cole repeated the trick again, slicing open the Blues defence with another killer through-ball for Neill who steadied himself before beating Taylor with aplomb.

Birmingham were reeling and their woes soon deepened when Dugarry finally got his comeuppance for aiming another stray elbow at Short in the box which resulted in a second yellow.

By now, Rovers were rampant and Ferguson very nearly bagged his second of the day following more good work by Cole but his shot crept just the wrong side of the far post.

When the third goal did arrive in the 82nd minute, it was well worth the wait.

Ferguson played a free kick square to Tugay on the edge of the box and the Turk's unstoppable 25-yarder screamed past Taylor into the top right-hand corner.

It was a peach of a strike and his celebration wasn't bad, either.

All that remained was for Gallagher to grab his moment of glory.

He went close with a low drive which whispered past the far post in the 86th minute then two minutes later, the ball dropped kindly for the teenager in the area once again and this time he made no mistake, casually hooking a shot beyond Taylor.

It was the perfect end to a thoroughly satisfying afternoon.