Andy Munro breathes a sigh of relief as Blues beat Nottingham Forest.
Most of us went with little hope and absolutely no expectation but fair play to a Blues team (looking remarkably like a Gary Rowett XI) who rolled up their sleeves and battled their hearts out.
Mind you, if it wasn’t for the usual excellent Forest away contingent, the crowd would have been fairly dismal as the flaky Redknapp-inspired extras decided against showing up. Still, those who did saw a fabulous early goal from Che Adams following excellent work by Kleftenbeld , who must have been one of the man of the match candidates.
The inclusion of Gleeson was a bit of a surprise but, until he got injured, he certainly stepped up to the plate. Playing alongside Davies and Kieftenbeld, the midfield looked a lot more solid with Jota on the flank providing the skill factor even though the end product was too often Fabriniesque.
At last, the back two central defender combo of Roberts and Dean are starting to live up to the hype with Grounds alongside playing his usual unspectacular but steady game. Without being too harsh, Nsu was the weakest link as too often he would have needed a pair of binoculars to pick up the winger that he should have been tight on.
Up front, apart from his goal, Che Adams never really got the service but at least Gallagher had his best game for the Blues, winning everything in the air and proving a handful for the Forest defence.
Perhaps, the strangest decision was to bring on Maghoma for the injured Gleeson but play him in the middle of the park when it was crying out for him to go wide and bring Jota into the centre of midfield where he could use his undoubted skill and creativity in the tight confines of central midfield. Still, Steve Cotterill got his win which was just about deserved and welcome.