Trailing 1-0 and having seen the hosts strike the woodwork three times in a game City could not afford to lose, Royle was convinced there were other forces at work at Ewood Park that day.
“Anyone who says they don’t suffer from nerves is kidding themselves,” recalled Royle.
“Yes, we all had nerves, particularly when they hit in the woodwork three times in the first half and went in 1-0 at half-time!
“We sat down and we didn’t have a big row at half time – I sat down with the players and said: ‘Listen, this isn’t us, and the golden rule is no matter how bad we play at times, we always score.’
“Then half an hour later, we find ourselves 4-1 up – a complete turnaround.”
But there was one large slice of luck that convinced Royle it was going to be City’s day, no matter how hard Rovers tried…
“Just before we scored, I think that they’d hit the post again and it bounced straight back into Nicky Weaver’s arms!
“I turned around to Asa Hartford, my No.2, and said: ‘There’s something strange going on here. It’s like someone decided these fans and the Club has had enough.;
“Then, as I say, it’s suddenly 4-1!
“Poor Graham Souness afterwards was fuming – he was trying to be civil in the coaches’ room and talk to us as nicely as he could but in the previous week, he just seen someone else promoted in Blackburn – Charlton – and he was not a happy chappy!”
