It's official, Rangers are on the march. After a well earned victory that saw Andy Thomson notch his 8th and 9th goals of the season to propel us to 4th in the table I think we can now allow ourselves to start thinking ahead.

The first shock of the night came when Ian Holloway was actually able to announce an unchanged side after the excellent victory at Wigan. All too often this season we have picked up niggling injuries that have led to one change or another but not this time. The programme stated that Rose picked up a slight hamstring strain on Saturday but he was fit enough to start.

Although the team was the same, they were almost unrecognisable in the first period. No movement and poor passing meant that we could not get into our stride in the early stages. Cardiff had no such problems. You could clearly see the influence that Alan Cork has had on the Bluebirds, two giant strikers with the ball coming from back to front very quickly. This seemed odd as in their midfield they had two talented playmakers in Des Hamilton, formerly of Newcastle United, along with ex-Stoke City stalwart Graham Kavanagh. Despite this, the prospect of lumping the ball at Leo Fortune-West and Peter Thorne seemed to great to resist.

By and large, the long balls were dealt with well by Steve Palmer and Aziz Ben-Askar. Anything that got past them was mopped up by Chris Day. Then for some reason Rangers took a liking to the Cardiff style and just started banging it up to Griffith and Thomson. Both are average in the air and were no match for Gabbidon and Prior. This meant that very few chances were being created by either side. For Rangers Rose and Perry both fired long range efforts into the top tier of the stand whilst Thorne did likewise for Cardiff.

Almost the first time Cardiff got the ball on the deck they managed to win a disputed 38th minute penalty. As Peter Thorne attempted to round Chris Day, the big Rangers stopper upended him. The linesman indicated a corner, the referee indicated a penalty. Opinion amongst the fans was also split. I thought it looked like a penalty and the referee duly obliged. Graham Kavanagh stepped up to fire the spot kick powerfully past Day's left hand.

The pattern of play slipped back to normal as both sides traded long balls until the referee blew for half time. Rangers left the field to a chorus of boos and I was not surprised. I think the best word to describe the first half performance would be lacklustre. It looked as though the drama of Saturday had taken a lot out of them. During the break, Holloway made a substitution and tactical switch that won us the game.

The once more disappointing Karl Connolly was withdrawn and Doudou entered the fray. Holloway seemed to change to a 3-4-3 formation with Thomson, Griffiths and Doudou up front and Christer Warren moving to a more advanced position on the left side of midfield. It did the trick and Rangers looked like a different side. After 54 minutes referee Messias handed us he lifeline we needed.

Andy Thomson went down under the challenge of Michael Simpkins for a clear-cut penalty. Despite Cardiff keeper Neil Alexander's best efforts to distract Thomson, he could not and the ball was stroked how low to his left. It amazes me that goalkeepers do not know anything about the player they face. Thomson's penalties against Bury and Port Vale both went to the keepers left.

We only had to wait until the 61st minute for Thomo to score and absolute cracker. Christer Warren picked the ball up just inside his own half and surged powerfully past the Cardiff midfield before laying the ball into Thomson's path. The ball was met with the inside of the right boot to send it curling majestically into the top corner. It just about out did his first against Port Vale.

Thomson is absolutely deadly at the moment. To have notched nine goals before the end of September is fantastic. Lets just hope it continues. All too often, you see strikers come flying out of the blocks only to fade later in the campaign. If we want promotion we need 25 goals from him and in this form, he should get that with ease. He needs a partner to take some of the pressure off him though. Long term the answer should be Leroy Griffiths but we shouldn't forget that he is still learning the professional game. I think that until these two really gel we should go with the front three seen in the second half and stick with a flexible 3-4-3 formation.

At this point, I feel it only fair to make special mention of the performance of Warren. It was his best performance in a Rangers shirt by an absolute mile. It was actually a shame to see him go off injured after a clash with Cardiff substitute Josh Low. He defended well and attacked with pace, he normally does neither. Unfortunately, I don't think either him or Paul Bruce will be in the side come May.

Griffiths almost added a third on two occasions. Two vicious left-footed efforts flew just wide of Alexander's right hand post. Thomson could have been in again a couple of times but the passes to him were just over-hit. Cardiff almost forced their way back into the game near the end. A succession of corners and free kicks were given away and with a team as big as Cardiff that will always be a problem. At the end of the game they had five players on the pitch that were six foot plus.

In the dying seconds, Chris Day pulled off the save of the game. A free kick 25 yards from goal was teed up for Graham Kavanagh to deliver a stinging drive. Day plunged low to his left and turned the ball away, he had done as much as anyone to win us this game after his first half error of judgement. He also had to cope with a hail of bottles from the neanderthal Cardiff following. Indeed the referee had to stop the game for four minutes whilst the always alert Goldrange stewards were deployed. I am not sure why they could not see what was happening themselves but we should never be surprised by any of their actions.

Another excellent three points for Holloway's men and three that, based on our second half display, we richly deserved. Since the tame defeat at Brighton, we have now collected ten points out of twelve, which is impressive in anyone's eyes. We have dug firm foundations on which to build a promotion push but we should not stop here. Hopefully the take-over will be completed soon, Holloway can strengthen the midfield and left back areas, and then we can really get going.