AS Blackburn Rovers enter the second half of the season, we deliver the half-term report.

TRIUMPH in the face of adversity is the half-term verdict for Rovers.

Mark Hughes and his side have hit the highs and lows so far this season but have come through it relatively unscathed and ready for a good 2007.

After a fantastic 2005/06 season, hopes were high that Rovers could push on and maybe aim for a Champions League spot.

But they went into the season with the news that the backbone of the team - Ryan Nelsen and Steven Reid - would be out until January.

And the 3-0 opening day defeat at the hands of a revitalised Portsmouth highlighted just how difficult their task would be.

And then Jason Roberts, who was bought as a foil for Benni McCarthy, was laid low by a couple of injuries and all of a sudden the squad looked fragile.

But the players have responded and proved the doubters wrong.

Benni McCarthy has been a revelation and the likes of Robbie Savage, David Bentley, Tugay and Brad Friedel have all been fantastic in the blue and white halves.

And after a fantastic Christmas period, Rovers lie in 11th and are through to the knockout stages of the UEFA Cup.

At the start of the season, Rovers struggled to cope with the loss of these players and Hughes, who doesn't have the biggest squad at his disposal, wasn't able to make the changes to the team he would have liked nor create the kind of competition for places within the squad he would have wanted.

As a result, Rovers' results were sporadic.

But four wins from their last five Premiership games have seen Rovers zoom up the table and outright European qualification is certainly on the cards - especially if Hughes can add a bit of quality while the transfer window remains open.

Europe has traditionally been a sorry place for Blackburn Rovers and, before the start of the current campaign, they'd won just once against continental opposition.

Rovers needed to break the European hoodoo and they've certainly done that this season.

Three wins and a draw in their UEFA Cup group saw them qualify for the last 32 unbeaten and has gone some way to redressing the balance.

The business end of the season has the potential to be a memorable one for the Blues.

With the injured players all set to return soon, and with a bit of wheeling and dealing in the transfer market, Rovers could be in a fantastic position to make an assault on the upper echelons of the Premiership, the FA Cup and the UEFA Cup.

GRADE B.

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