A LOT of good teams have visited Ewood Park this year but it was good to finally entertain THE self-styled big club last Saturday.

It's always a big occasion when the former Auto Windscreen Shield winners roll into town with their big name players, big name manager and big support. It puts the visits of Man United, Arsenal and Chelsea to shame, doesn't it?

Seriously though, with all the bad blood between the clubs recently it's become one game where a win is that little bit sweeter.

We'll never know the full story behind the Robbie Savage transfer last year but when the Birmingham chairman uttered those famous words 'he's leaving for a smaller club,' he left himself open for a fall that duly came on Saturday.

So when Gerald Jackson uttered those unforgettable yet predictable words 'today's man of the match is....Robbie Savage' in his finest Lancashire accent it must have felt like a knife to the heart of all those connected with the Midlanders.

Steve Bruce's side were not so much mercilessly dispatched, more outworked and outfought by a team where their former charge put in his best performance thus far in a Rovers shirt.

We all knew what we were getting when Savage signed, the kind of player you want in your side but thoroughly detest when he's in the opposition camp.

Having been on both sides as a fan, I know I prefer him in the blue and white halves but I must admit that I've had my doubts up to the last half dozen games.

Finally he's starting to look like the player we wanted him to be and Saturday's performance was not just wholehearted but mature and disciplined, two words you'd have rarely heard previously when talking of the Welshman.

Without him in the engine room, Birmingham look like a team devoid of passion and commitment.

Given the position they find themselves in, they are qualities they can ill afford to be without. How they must yearn for a player like Savage at this moment as opposed to the journeymen he left behind.

That said, it's not our problem and the three points won have seen us climb into the dizzy heights of the top half of the table.

Fourteen points from the first ten games is no bad return and when you consider we had six at the same stage last year it represents a welcome turnaround.

Not only that but we've got to that position without Craig Bellamy for the majority of the season.

There's no doubt that Rovers look a totally different proposition with him in the side and the big question now is if he can sustain his fitness and get a good run of games under his belt.

If he can, there's a real chance we can push on up the league and while I believe that a top six place will ultimately be beyond us we should be able to banish the spectre of relegation a bit earlier than usual.

And that's something that I'm sure all connected with a certain big club would like right now.