ROBBIE Savage's long-awaited debut for Blackburn Rovers cannot come soon enough if this was a glimpse of what life could be like without Barry Ferguson.

Mark Hughes' £3 million signing from Birmingham City was sat in the stand at Ewood Park last night to watch his new team-mates scrape past plucky Cardiff City in this third round replay.

But how Hughes must have wished the 30-year-old was out on the pitch driving his side on as Rovers struggled to impose themselves against a City team battling relegation from the Championship.

In the end, Rovers had just enough to go through, but without Ferguson to oversee proceedings in the centre of the park, they were missing a midfield general to grab this tie by the scruff of the neck and lead from the front.

Savage is exactly that type of character and this old-fashioned scrap would have been right up his street.

Instead, the Welshman had to be content with a watching brief as Rovers booked their place in round four the hard way.

David Thompson had got Blackburn off to the perfect start when he fired home his first goal since the opening day of last season in the ninth minute.

Cardiff then equalised through the tricky Jobi McAnuff before a freak goal from Thompson restored Rovers' advantage midway through the half.

Morten Gamst Pedersen appeared to have put the tie beyond reach when he added a third shortly after half time - the Norwegian's fourth goal in his last four appearances.

But the courageous Bluebirds were in no mood to surrender without a fight and James Collins's scrambled effort set up a tense finale, which saw Rovers survive several late scares before their place in the next round was assured.

"It was a poor game from our point of view and we never really played at any stage," said Hughes.

"We possibly got sucked into the kind of game that Cardiff wanted to play but, fair play to them, they were energetic and got up to the ball which, at times, we didn't do so it was a hard night."

With Ferguson and the combative Garry Flitcroft ruled out through injury, Hughes was forced to pair Thompson and Tugay together in the centre of midfield and they struggled to impose themselves against the impressive Graham Kavanagh, who scrapped for possession with real tenacity.

Uncharacteristically, in light of recent performances, Rovers also floundered at the back as City's direct approach put the wind up Andy Todd and his defensive colleagues.

Aaron Mokoena, in particular, had a torrid time on his home debut as he battled to contain Alan Lee and Peter Thorne, who are two centre forwards in the old-fashioned mould.

Hughes finally spared the South African's blushes when he pushed him into midfield midway through the second half but it was a night when no-one in a blue and white shirt performed to their full potential.

Nevertheless, Rovers are through to the next round and it's a sign of their improvement under Hughes that they can still win when playing badly.

Unlike Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez, whose side had suffered an embarrassing cup exit at Burnley 24 hours earlier, Hughes resisted the temptation to rest some of his first team regulars, his team sheet featuring just two changes to the side that had started at Portsmouth on Saturday.

That meant recalls for Lucas Neill and Dominic Matteo in the full back positions, with Nissa Johanson and the ineligible Ryan Nelsen making way.

Rovers' desire was clear from the start as Paul Gallagher went close with an early shot that whistled over the bar.

Brett Emerton then did magnificently to trick his way past two defenders in the area but he somehow failed to pick out one of his team-mates with an over-hit cross.

Cardiff's reprieve was to prove only temporary, however, as Rovers promptly broke the deadlock in the ninth minute.

Neill slipped a clever ball into Gallagher, who was lurking with intent inside the area, and the young striker's deft flick fell perfectly for Thompson to drill a sweet right-footed finish inside the far post.

That early goal should have given Rovers the perfect platform on which to build but, if anything, the opposite happened as passes suddenly started going astray and City were afforded far too much time and space in midfield.

Kavanagh and Thorne both went close with shots before the Bluebirds deservedly fashioned an equaliser in the 22nd minute.

Richard Langley escaped the attentions of Mokoena on the edge of the area and traded passes with McAnuff before the latter arrowed a low drive beyond Brad Friedel and inside the far upright.

Rovers were rocked by that setback but they were back in front within 10 minutes thanks to a howler from Tony Warner.

There appeared to be little imminent danger when Thompson floated a hopeful pass towards the penalty spot from 40 yards out but Gallagher's darting run distracted the City keeper, who could only watch in horror as the ball bounced over him and inside the far post.

Cardiff could have caved in after that but, to their credit, they didn't and they might have evened things up again shortly before the break had McAnuff repeated his heroics from an identical move that led to his goal.

There was no let up in the action after the interval.

Rovers appeared to have booked their passage into round four when Pedersen turned in a Neill cross at the far post in the 47th minute for what was his fourth goal in his last four appearances.

The Norwegian, clearly ecstatic at his recent return to favour, promptly hurdled the advertising boards and disappeared under a swathe of supporters.

However, those wild celebrations proved somewhat premature as Cardiff hit back seven minutes later, James Collins forcing home a free kick at the second attempt following a blinding save by Friedel.

With Rovers on the rack, City could have forced extra time but Friedel did brilliantly to repel a Collins header, McAnuff had a decent penalty claim turned down, and Langley then ballooned a golden chance over the bar from six yards out.

Hughes was relieved to hear the final whistle in the end but Rovers lived to fight another day.

"You can't let your standards drop but we did a little bit tonight," added the Rovers boss.

"We'll kick on, though, because we didn't get beat and that's something to be pleased about."

Cardiff (4-4-2): Warner; Weston, Barker, Gabbidon, Collins; Kavanagh, Inamoto, McAnuff, Langley; Lee, Thorne. Subs: Vidmar (for Weston, 52), Campbell (for Thorne, 62), Ledley (for Inamoto, 76) Not used: Bullock, Alexander

Referee: Steve Dunn (Bristol) 7

Bookings: Rovers; Neill, Dickov. Cardiff; Gabbidon

Sendings off: None

Attendance: 9,140

Goals:1-0 - Thompson , 9; 1-1 - McAnuff, 22; 2-1 - Thompson, 32; 3-1 - Pedersen, 47; 3-2 - Collins, 54