Morecambe mauling a sign of good things to come?

I wasn't really looking forward to the Morecambe game, and saw it as a bit of a nuisance, but I ended up enjoying listening to it in the end, and was really pleased that Robert Earnshaw opened his goals account with us with two well-taken goals.

I was quite surprised that we won the game so convincingly as I thought Morecambe would have put up more of a fight, but Forest were totally dominant from start to finish and could quite easily have got near double figures had their finishing been a bit more polished. Still, I'm more than happy with four goals, which the Sky reporter jokingly pointed out were one for every thousand that was in attendance!

Lee Martin, who we have just signed on loan from Manchester United for a month, was very effective on the left wing and terrorised the Morecambe defence. He sounds like just the kind of player we need to fill the void until Paul Anderson returns. It could be that Martin impresses so much that we opt to keep him a bit longer and we will forget all about Anderson. To be honest it looks likely that Anderson won't even get to wear a Forest shirt if his troublesome thigh injury keeps playing up.

We have big injury problems up front at the moment, but the emergence of 18-year-old Adam Newbold from the youth team could be something to get excited about. He came on as a substitute last night and scored a pretty good goal. I hadn't heard of him before he was named in the squad in pre-season. He may well be a first team regular in the not too distant future if he lives up to his promising debut.

I really can't remember the last time Forest actually gave a convincing performance in the League Cup, so last night's performance was pleasantly surprising. I didn't expect the players to be motivated for it, but it was a really professional display, which is what Cloughie would have approved of. I hope this is a sign of good things to come in the Championship, as obviously our main priority is to consolidate in that, but a good cup run is nothing to be sniffed at. We have landed a good plum tie at home to Sunderland in the next round, which means that Roy Keane will once again be returning to the City Ground, just a month after the pre-season friendly between the two sides. I can definitely see us overturning Sunderland on our own pitch, although the fact that Sky are showing it may put the jinx on that!