IT will seem slightly strange today not having a game on a Saturday afternoon.

Although the Premier League may be used to their fixtures being moved all around the weekend it is still quite unusual in League One and Two, but it means we have an extra day to prepare for our first away game of the season at Bristol Rovers tomorrow.

The players will train this morning and then most of the coaching staff will go off and watch games involving teams we are due to play soon.

We will then set off for Bristol in the morning feeling confident after a really encouraging first couple of games.

I thought the performance at home to Chesterfield last Saturday was very good – miles better than the opening day last season against Crawley.

We defended well, created chances and I thought we would get our first three points on the board.

Unfortunately, when you step up a league you also see a difference in the talent in other sides.

Chesterfield had one or two players who deserve to be playing in at least the Championship and Ched Evans scored a very good free-kick to leave us with just one point.

That was slightly frustrating, but we bounced back immediately at Birmingham on Tuesday night.

There have been so many memorable cup games over the last couple of seasons, but I thought this was as good as any.

The fans were magnificent and the players responded with a very professional performance to beat a good Championship side on their own turf.

Credit to all of the players for the way they played on the night.

We do keep going until the last kick and showed that when Liam Sercombe won the game with six seconds left.

We will play Brighton at home in the next round.

Some people have asked me whether cup games might get in the way, but I honestly believe they were a huge help last season.

You get that winning mentality, the players thrive on the confidence of creating an upset, and we look forward to testing ourselves against Brighton just as much as we look forward to trying to win tomorrow’s game in Bristol.

ONE of the first people into the dressing room on Tuesday night was the chairman, Darryl Eales.

As you may know, Darryl (left) was a childhood Birmingham fan and still has a massive soft spot for the Blues.

You would have been hard-pressed to tell that when he was in the dressing room high-fiving the players and savouring the win.

We work very closely together and it is great to share nights like that with him as well as with the fans.

It is a sell-out away end again tomorrow, so we know we are going to come out and see a wall of yellow on the far side of the pitch.

That can only help inspire the team and hopefully we can all end up celebrating for the second time in a week.