FOR all Bolton Wanderers knew, this might not have been a patched-up and depleted Blues.

Blues were without 12 players through injury, lost a couple more during the game and relied on two teenage rookies to man the midfield.

But the way they performed, with such spirit and gumption, will not have Bolton in hindsight undervaluing a victory that took them through to the FA Cup semi-finals.

Alex McLeish said it was a bit SAS by Blues (who dares wins) towards the end and when they and the fans have an underdog cause to rally behind, they are a formidable opponent, never to be written off.

But for mistakes and carelessness in concentration, Blues might have been contemplating the distinct probability of another improbable run on a Wembley final, and England’s premier domestic knock-out trophy, to follow the Carling Cup success.

Instead Blues fell in the quarter-finals for the second consecutive season and third time in six years.

The FA Cup, a competition Blues have never won, seems always out of their grasp.

Two finals and nine semi-final appearances have come to nought. Who knows, one day? Let’s just hope it’s not 48 years...

The focus now turns to the Premier League and survival.

And getting the stricken, ailing and fatigued right in body and mind.

Blues have to rekindle the consistency of last season and harness the kind of defiant attitude that marked Saturday’s compelling tie, and the barnstorming Carling Cup matches.

Another uplifting facet of the tie was the way Jordon Mutch, who started, and Nathan Redmond, who came on in the 29th minute, went about things.

At times Mutch was a bit excitable when care and attention was needed which admittedly does comes with experience. But to effectively underpin central midfield at 19 years of age, in such a big game, deserves admiration.

Mutch was combative and refused to believe he was any way inferior to his opponents. He passed the ball on the whole tidily and never let up.