WHETHER this was a good, valuable point will only be known for sure when the final reckoning comes.

On the face of it, it was.

Another classic six-pointer, the last time Blues had a similar game against one of their nearest rivals they flunked the test, at Wigan Athletic.

If anything, that match at Wigan brought into sharp focus a few home truths and jolted Blues out of their post Carling Cup torpor.

Since then, they have performed with a drive and brio that smacks of a bunch of players who simply refuse to countenance the prospect of a meek slide into the Championship.

Blackburn have troubles of their own. Regardless, they are tough to crack on their own patch and their brand of football tests the resolve and fibre of any visitors.

In a real battle of attrition that was not for faint hearts, Blues showed the staunch battling qualities that they, arguably more than any other team down near the bottom of the table, possess.

At various stages, more bodies were littered around the pitch due to a variety of clashes, knocks, bumps and challenges – suffered by both sides – than you would find in Holby City.

Roger Johnson got knocked out, Barry Ferguson was also flattened, Craig Gardner, Stuart Parnaby and Curtis Davies limped along and both Ryan Nelsen and Junior Hoillet succumbed to injuries.

No quarter was given as players toppled like dominoes; it was that sort of full-blooded afternoon.

We know that Blues are not free-scorers. We know they can’t take an opponent apart at will. So doing what they are good at is important from now until May, and any ‘compare and contrast’ grumbles to others should be shelved. The be all and end all is survival, by whatever means.

Doubtless Alex McLeish would like his side to find goals far more easy to come by.

But they aren’t. Their DNA is different and when you study the players not available – McFadden, Dann, Bentley, Martins, Beausejour, Zigic, Jiranek – it’s then more about character.

Also, before and since Wembley, those who McLeish would term ‘game-breakers’ have, quite frankly, disappointed. If they’ve not been fit, they’ve not been up to scratch.

By no means are Blues out of the woods. But if they carry on and play with such heart – and the odd bit of inspiration materialises – then they should be OK.

Certainly, they do not appear as brittle as Wolves and West Ham United. Blackpool are under the kind of pressure they have not experienced before and as for Sunderland, who visit St Andrew’s on Saturday, the nerves are jangling there.