Newcastle United's attempt to reach the FA Cup final for the second year in succession remains alive after a deserved victory in last night's fifth-round replay at Ewood Park.
A home tie against Everton in the quarter-final offers further encouragement for manager Ruud Gullit's belief that his team is equipped to make it to Wembley again.
And the determined approach of his improving side last night suggested that they would be a vastly different proposition to the one that folded against Arsenal last May.
Louis Saha, only playing because Alan Shearer was ill, scored the first-half goal that extended a dismal sequence for Rovers, who have now lost at home in the Cup for six years in succession - five of them in replays.
The outcome was always likely to hinge to a great extent on which team compensated best in the absence of crucial players, including four first-choice strikers.
Chris Sutton and the long-term absentee Kevin Gallacher featured among Blackburn's eight missing men, while 'flu kept Shearer back on Tyneside with the injured Duncan Ferguson.
No show without punch, perhaps. That was certainly the early impression, with Newcastle suffering more than Rovers, who were at least able to employ an £11 million pairing in Nathan Blake and Kevin Davies.
They are two strikers yet to carve out a reputation at Ewood Park, yet they combined well to give Blackburn early impetus when Davies headed wide. Gullit could only turn to a substantially cheaper makeshift strikeforce of Saha and Temuri Ketsbaia, lightweight and unpredictable, but both possessing enough raw pace to worry Blackburn's Darren Peacock and Marlon Broomes.
Ketsbaia developed into Newcastle's premier threat once Dietmar Hamann's 15th-minute free-kick was clutched by in-form goalkeeper John Filan. However, it was rare hint of menace in a mundane opening that was already encouraging thoughts of a penalty shoot-out when Saha, on loan from Metz, broke the deadlock after 38 minutes to improve his chances of a permanent move at the end of the season.
The goal could not have been simpler. Laurent Charvet hustled Damien Duff off the ball and switched it to Hamman, whose angled pass travelled 50 yards before Saha's control and early touch enabled him to score inside the far post.
Rovers finally stirred themselves and Jason Wilcox forced Shay Given into an alert save at the foot of a post.
However, Newcastle's grip on the tie continued to strengthen after the interval, largely thanks to the authority of Gary Speed and Hamman in the heart of their midfield.
Blackburn added another name to their injured list a minute later when Jeff Kenna departed with hamstring trouble; Duff's exit two minutes later was purely tactical.
Kidd sent on Ashley Ward but the effect on Blackburn was negligible and Newcastle should have made the tie safe after 67 minutes, when Garry Brady eluded Croft and, with Ketsbaia unmarked in front of goal, lifted the ball over the bar from a narrow angle.
Blackburn Rovers: Filan, Kenna (Croft 57), Peacock, Broomes, Davidson, Gillespie, Wilcox, Marcolin, Duff (Ward 60), Blake, Davies. Subs Not Used: Johnson, Dunn, Flowers.
Newcastle United: Given, Charvet, Dabizas, Howey, Barton, Solano, Hamann, Speed, Brady, Saha, Ketsbaia. Subs Not Used: Lee, Dalglish, Hughes, Griffin, Harper. Booked: Speed, Solano. Goals: Saha 37.
Referee: D Gallagher (Banbury).
