It was all nicey nicey without getting us anywhere

“This is the first time we showed our teeth for a concerted amount of time,” he said after seeing his side reach the second round. We got gritty and showed some bite and also quite a lot of skill as well.

“For the penalty, it was just as much about how Joel won it as how he put it away – to get back to his feet after being pulled down showed great determination.

“We showed a good attitude all over the pitch and when we had to put our family jewels in front of the ball we did it. Hopefully we can use that as a stepping stone for things in the league.”

Steve Cotterill was counting the cost of a second immediate cup exit of 2006 but was surprisingly less than harsh on his team that had turned in such a poor performance, and spent some time pointing the finger at the referee.

Until the penalty it is fair to say we didn't look as though we would concede a goal and the manager said of that goal: “I thought that we got done by a carbon copy of the goal from Saturday and it came just when we started to apply a bit of pressure.

“We talked about that on Sunday and we shot ourselves in the foot again. That cup was important to us as a club and the most disappointing thing is that we need to do well in these cups for financial purposes. We enjoy a game on Sky or a game against a Premiership side and the club as a whole benefit. So that has left us majorly disappointed.”

At this point he turned his attentions to the referee saying: “I don't know who was worse tonight, us or the officials. I thought they were poor and I don't think we got anything from them all night.

“I have a complaint with the sending off because their lad cut back across Wayne. I don't know if we had another player back covering, but it was just one of those nights I suppose. I might have to take another look because I could be talking with my heart and not my head, but if the referee did see it then it was the only thing he did see.”

He didn't like being on the wrong end of a giant killing result. “I've been there for the good times when we have beaten Premiership team and it is easy then,” he said. “It's just not so easy when you can't put your finger on why it has gone belly up. You need to start brightly and if you score it lifts the crowd. We didn't do that, we starter how we start a practice match,. It was all nicey nicey without getting us anywhere.”