Blues would have wanted to win (obviously), move into the next round, give some game time to some players who needed it and give one or two an opportunity to boost their confidence. All of those things happened.
In a game like this where there's so many changes I realise people are less interested in a detailed anyalysis of what went right and what went wrong where (or at least what I think went right and went wrong and where) and would rather just know how everyone played. I'll deal with that then, shall I?
Maik Taylor, Stuart Parnaby and David Murphy did pretty much what you'd expect. Well, I say that, but Parnaby played 90 minutes - maybe you wouldn't have expected that. Taylor didn't do anything wrong really, but still showed moments of hesitation (including failing to catch one cross early on that went about a foot over his head, three feet out from goal) that made you thankful that for two season running Blues have managed to get proper goalkeepers in as number one choices. Parnaby was Parnaby - fine. Murphy didn't do too badly, actually. His defending was better and he got forward quite well. He's a trier, you have to give him that.
In terms of the centre halves, Roger Johnson was surprisingly sloppy. Whether there was an element of complacency, I don't know, but he was slow at times, dawdled on the ball at times and picked up some really poor passes that played Blues into trouble. It may have been complacency or it may have been the fact that he was fed up at the lack of defenders in the squad meaning that whilst his first team teammates got a rest, he had to go and mark Jermaine Easter. Martin Jiranek, on the other hand, looked solid and very much untroubled. He's shorter than Johnson but a little bulkier and he clearly reads the game well. I'll confess that I'd never seen him play before, but his pedigree suggested he must be decent, and he looked it last night. Granted, it was only against MK Dons, but he looked sound. He looked like he's seen it all before which, given his experience, he probably has. Should Johnson or Scott Dann get injured, I don't think Blues would have a problem putting him in. He was quite vocal too, and communicated well. It was promising.
In the middle of the midfield Keith Fahey and Michel got a chance to shine. Fahey was, in truth, probably the night's biggest disappointment. Whether he tried too hard when presented with an opportunity in the middle, I don't know, but he's normally neat and tidy wherever he plays. He wasn't here though - he was wasteful in possession and struggled. Michel, as he always does, gave his all and was always on the lookout for the ball. He's a good footballer - there's no doubt about that. Whether he'll ever crack it at Blues, as I've said before, I have my doubts. Certain players just never quite fit in at certain clubs or in certain footballing cultures, and I can just see that happening here. Unfortunately he got injured fairly early on, but in a strange way, that was what turned the game in Blues' favour.
When Michel went off he was replaced by Craig Gardner who, I'm sure, Alex McLeish probably wasn't planning on using. Gardner came on and immediately added thrust and drive to Blues' play. Michel and Fahey, for all their qualities, don't offer that. They're slow and laborious. Gardner is more like Lee Bowyer of old - he adds dynamism and drives the team forward. Within about ten minutes of coming on (with the score at 0-0), Gardner had picked out two passes to the left to Jean Beausejour who set up goals on each occasion, then scored himself with what's becoming a trademark finish of his from outside the area. It was 3-0 in no time and Gardner prompted it himself. £3m is beginning to look a snip who a central midfielder with his drive and his goals.
On both occasions that he was picked out by Gardner, Beausejour showed real quality in not rushing or panicking and in simply picking out the right ball. On the first occasion, as everyone expected him to hit the group of players who'd headed into the six yard box, he looked up and saw Alexander Hleb had held off. He picked him out and Hleb scored. On the second occasion, he'd cut inside onto his right foot was in a prime position to shoot, albeit on his wrong foot. He was composed though and picked out Nikola Zigic who finished well. It was another impressive full debut after his appearance in difficult circumstances at the Hawthorns. Beausejour looked decent on the ball, tracked back pretty well and looks to have something about him. I wouldn't say that he's ready for Premier League starts yet, but he looked good.
Hleb's finish looked to be superb. The MK Dons 'keeper never moved and I suspect Hleb found a gap and perfectly curled the ball into it. Otherwise, it was another promising display. He played wide right but with freedom to drift, which he did so - someone like Hleb always will. On the ball he (usually) retained possession and showed glimpses of his well-renowned dribbling ability when in tight positions. He seems to have fitted in with his teammates too, applauding good ideas and talking to them a lot - there doesn't seem to be a prima donna sense about him, which is nice. He's gone from receiving passes from Xavi to now receiving them from Keith Fahey - it is a culture shock. There were a few occasions when he seemed to think he still had Dani Alves on the overlap rather than Stuart Parnaby, but again it looks good.
Matt Derbyshire will probably be a little disappointed that the game passed him by and that he never really got a chance to add his name to the scoresheet. Again though, you cannot fault his workrate or effort. He's always making runs, always making himself available and gave his all. On other occasions he will get chances and he'll take them. It was one of those quiet nights that strikers in his mould have - he'll have better nights.
And now on to Nikola Zigic… this guy is going to be this season's Christian Benitez. He is going to divide opinion. He is going to stir up more debate than the war in Afghanistan, the coalition government and the Z Factor. So, what to make of him? Well, so far he hasn't really impressed. He scored here, but was too tentative on another couple of occasions and was poor in the air. As we've all seen previously, there were some flashes of real skill with the ball at his feet. He struggled overall though.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, anyone who's seen much of Zigic in the past should know that for someone his size, he's not great in the air. He's not bad, but you'd expect him to win everything and he won't - that was known before we signed him. The one thing that you can say is that when he wins a header, he knows what he's doing with it - he directs his flick ons/headers, something Blues have lacked for a long time. He doesn't win as many as you'd expect him to though. The thing with him is that I think that he's someone that you have to build your side around. He has qualities and he has limitations, and if you're going to play him, you have to play around those. You have to get the ball up to him, preferably to his feet or around his waist or chest - where he can do something with it. Either that or at his head, rather than a foot above his head where he has to jump. You can't expect him to cause havoc with his running - he's not quick enough. If you play him, he has to be a focal point and everything has to be built around him.
The issue is that Blues don't really want to change the way that they've played for the past 14-15 months. Blues don't want to make someone the focal point. That's completely understandable. Blues want someone who can slot in to the way that they already play. Zigic isn't necessarily the right person to do that. He's not a striker who can just slot in to any side, no matter what formation or system they play. He needs to have things built around him. Right guy at the wrong time? Maybe so. One thing for sure is that, at the moment, Zigic isn't quite looking ready.
It is incredibly early days, however, and there is a big adjustment from where he's been playing to where he's now playing. The advantage is that he's not useless - it's not like Blues have bought someone who can't play football. He can. They've got something that they can work with. Two strikers at similar clubs to Blues have started this season really well - Nikola Kalinic at Blackburn and John Elmander at Bolton. Both struggled for a good season when they moved from continental Europe to the Premier League. I am not for one second writing Zigic off - I actually still think he may come good. He's very much a work in progress though and there needs to be a lot of learning about one another from both sides.
Enric Valles and Kevin Phillips both got on later on. Valles is a bit of a Michel clone, looking like him (from a distance), running like him and dropping deep to pick the ball up like him. Indeed, my comments above on Michel apply again - neat, tidy, talented player, but question marks over whether he'll make it at Blues. Phillips just needed game time and got that. He played in the role that he played at Albion a few years back - just behind the strikers. I suspect that this wasn't a trial for a new role for him, but just McLeish wanting to give all of Phillips, Zigic and Derbyshire game time. It meant that the midfield narrowed and that's when MK Dons came into the game really. Also, Hleb and Beausejour were the two to make way and that really removed any spark from Blues who just went through the motions.
It was disappointing that Nathan Redmond never got on. With the score at 3-0 at half-time, you thought it would be a perfect opportunity to give him 30-35 minutes. However, as I've mentioned, I suspect that Gardner was a substitute that McLeish didn't want to use but had to. He no doubt wanted to give Phillips time and must have wanted to give Valles a run, so Redmond was the one who probably missed out. Had Michel not got injured, I'm sure he'd have got on. His time will come.
Overall, a decent enough display and a decent enough result. Most pleasing though were the performances of the three newest signings - Jiranek, Beausejour and Hleb. I, like many, banged on about the need for bodies to be brought in before the transfer window closed, and those three came in and really look to have added to the squad. Not long ago a Blues side made up of squad players and new signings would have struggled against any lower league opposition. Now that there is that added quality though, it was comfortable, as it should have been. Pleasing signs.