A NEW YEAR - and out with the old and in with the new.

At least that's what we all hoped would happen at Rovers with the 'old' being the underachieving players to the 'new' being players performing to their full potential.

Not for the first (or come to think of it second or third) time this season our hopes have been dashed. A 4-0 reverse by an ordinary Birmingham side is bad enough, but the fact that it ends our interest in the cup makes it even worse.

I know the noises from Ewood are always that Premiership points are the priority, and that's fine. But the fact of the matter is that in August we were in four competitions and in the first week of January we only have a relegation scrap to 'look forward' to.

It could be argued that we're only a couple of wins away from a European place rather than three points above the relegation zone. Realistically though, we've only won two on the bounce once this season. Is it feasible to think we're going to go on a run of four or five wins?

Have the players taken the manager's stance on cup competitions to the letter? They certainly did a good impression of a team that couldn't care less about the cup on Saturday.

Whatever the thoughts are on our cup exit, I can't help feeling it's an opportunity lost.

A cup run raises the hopes of the supporters, raises the club's profile and keeps everyone upbeat. It breeds confidence in the players and winning can become a habit.

It also gives the club an opportunity to 'court' new fans, something that I'm sure isn't lost on chief executive John Williams.

People want to watch a successful club, but for this season at least, only staying in the Premiership can be deemed as any such 'success'. That's hardly going to have them queueing round the block for season tickets next season.

One thing's for certain, there's nothing positive that can be taken from Saturday into the next game.

The talk is always of how the players we have are good quality and that, dare I say it, we're too good to go down, but is that really the case?

Six pointers against Bolton, Wolves and Man City will test the resolve of all the players and if they've no heart for the battle they'll come up short, regardless of how good they supposedly are.

Good results over the next three games could leave us sitting pretty in mid-table. Conversely, bad results could leave us in the mire. It's a time for workers not shirkers, and for battlers not bottlers.

We certainly can't accept a capitulation similar to what happened on Saturday anyway.