"We're white, we're blue, we're in division two", was the song that rang out amongst the Rangers' fans in the last game of last season at Wolves. If we keep up the level of performance seen in the game against Stoke we will be in division two for another 45 games exactly.

Nobody said it was ever going to be easy to claw our way out of this division and that was brought home yesterday. I have rarely seen such a physical game of football in my life. It was not a dirty game by any means but challenges thundered in from both sets of players with no quarter asked and none given. I think that this will be the fare for much of the season but we must not let this detract from the standard of football played by both teams.

The Rangers' play had a great tempo, which was accompanied by an assured touch rarely seen under the Francis regime. We had players who wanted the ball at their feet and knew what to do with it once it arrived. Our two centre backs, Steve Palmer and Aziz Ben-Askar personified this. I don't think you will find two better footballing defenders in this division. They are assured with the ball and don't resort to hammering it eighty yards at the first sign of a challenge. Ben-Askar in particular has an exquisite range of passing. Along with Chris Day, these two players will be the rock our promotion push is built upon.

The only goal of the game came in the 23rd minute and was a thing of rare beauty. Mark Perry slipped the ball into the feet of Stuart Wardley who produced a sublime flick into the path of the onrushing Andy Thomson. Thomson hammered the ball past the grasping left hand of Gavin Ward in the Stoke goal.

At this moment, it is only fair to single out the contribution of Wardley to this game. It seems that 'Olly has now decided that he would best be employed as an out and out striker. His link up play with Thomson was outstanding and it was slightly surprising to see him withdrawn after only 59 minutes. The thunderous applause afforded him by a sometimes difficult Loftus Road crowd was great to hear. However, if you thought that was loud the noise generated when Leroy Griffiths took his place was something else. It was a shame that he only lasted ten minutes before being carried from the field. He had launched himself into a typically enthusiastic challenge and went down clutching his knee. The first reaction of most in the crowd was that it was some sort of ligament damage. Luckily, it turned out to be nothing more than a bad cut so we should see Leroy back in a couple of weeks.

Stoke nearly forced their way back into the game on the half-hour. Peter Thorne for once forced his way past Palmer and Ben-Askar and fired past Day. The referee had spotted a handball in the build up and disallowed the goal. I must confess I didn't see the handball and I was looking straight at the incident so the referee must be congratulated. Stokes only other meaningful chance of the first half fell to Bjarni Gudjonsson, son of manager Gudjon Thordarson, who forced a fine one handed save from Day.

The second half saw Stoke begin to impose themselves on the game and prove why they may be a part of the end of season shake up. Dutch international Peter Hoekstra was causing no end of problems on the left flank. It was credit to young Terrell Forbes that he did not let this outstanding player get out of hand. It surely won't be long until Hoekstra is tempted away from Stoke to a higher level.

No sooner had Stoke taken control than Marcus Bignot was on hand to snatch it back. Bignot is a truly outstanding player. Bought by Holloway as a right back but now proving to be the exact thing that we have desperately missed since our relegation, a tenacious midfield ball winner. However, this is not the only string to his bow. He has ability on the ball, which he showed with some lovely link up play with Forbes in the second period. He was unlucky not to score when Peter Handyside blocked his fierce drive.

By this time Sammy Koejoe had replaced the unlucky Griffiths and was causing problems. Earlier in the week, Holloway had placed him on the transfer list as he claimed he did not rate him. You have to wonder whether this was an astute piece of man management as it served to give Sammy the kick up the arses he needed. He was unfortunate not to score on four occasions.

For the second time in a week, Andy Thomson fell foul of a flag happy linesman. Thomson was caught offside at least four times against Hampton & Richmond Borough in our last friendly and must have been flagged the same number of times again. Thomson's frustration finally boiled over when Stoke defender Handyside brought him down on the edge of the area. He lunged at his assailant and an ugly melee ensued. Every player except Chris Day was involved and bookings resulted for Thomson and Stoke pair Handyside and Shtanyuk.

The one criticism I can have of the performance is that we did not kill Stoke off when we had the chance. Five minute of injury time was added and we were lucky not to be pegged back in this time. Only a goal line clearance from Ben-Askar and a big slice of luck saved us.

This was a passionate display from a fledgling Rangers side. It was great to see Ben-Askar run seventy yards toward The Loft to grab the badge of his shirt a kiss it in an unbridled display of pride. This seemed to sum up what every player and every fan was feeling at that time. We have got a bloody good chance of returning to division one at the first attempt and these players, with this manager are just what we need to do it.