Blackburn - 1 Portsmouth - 0: There was an assurance about Mark Hughes, a self-belief that was tangible. It was there before the match as he strode confidently to the touchline to receive the acclaim of Blackburn's fans, and again afterwards as he reflected on the differences with his first match in charge of Wales.

"Back then I didn't know what I was doing," he said. "I know exactly what I'm doing now."

His inaugural week as Blackburn manager has already incorporated a first victory of the season, plus the beginnings of a new chapter in Matt Jansen's career, but there have been more subtle changes too. An overhaul of training procedures is under way and Hughes is clearly willing to employ some unorthodox methods.

In the dressing-room afterwards several players misheard his instructions.

"I thought he said we had a nice bath waiting," said Jansen. "It turns out it was an ice bath. And we had to jump in four times, for 30 seconds each time."

His players were willing to obey his orders just as they had been ready to stretch every sinew for Hughes on the field of play.

Barry Ferguson epitomised the indefatigability, finally showing glimpses of the ability that persuaded Hughes's predecessor Graeme Souness, to pay Rangers £7 million for the midfielder. Paul Dickov was equally ubiquitous. Jon Stead, still searching for his first goal of the season, could scarcely have tried harder.

Even so the match was drifting listlessly towards a stalemate until the 65th minute when Hughes sent on Jansen for Morten Gamst Pedersen.

It was an endearing story. In June 2002, a taxi shot out of a side street in Rome and crashed into the hired moped that Jansen was riding. He was flung from the bike and hit his head on the pavement. Had he not been wearing a crash helmet he would probably have been dead.

As it was, he spent 10 days in hospital before a long, slow rehabilitation. Since then he has never convinced Souness he could get back to the exhilarating heights that had put him on the fringes of the England squad.

His first couple of touches - misplacing a simple pass, dribbling the ball out for a throw-in - befitted a man whose confidence under Souness was not so much low as subterranean.

The crowd had given him a spontaneous standing ovation but Jansen seemed to be drifting out of the game until the 75th minute.

Lucas Neill instigated the move, advancing through midfield before playing a quick pass into Jansen's feet. The striker controlled the ball impeccably and swept an instinctive shot beyond Shaka Hislop.

"I thought I had played my last game for the club," he said afterwards. "My confidence has been destroyed, really. If the supporters had given up on me I might have thrown in the towel as well. Instead, this is a new start. It's been a long time coming and I'm determined to take it."