opening matches of the Coca Cola Cup on Tuesday.

Shawn Goater's Bristol City club advanced to the second round of the Cup with a 1-0 home win over Torquay while Kyle Lightbourne's team, Walsall, went down 2-0 away to Watford.

City drew the first leg at Torquay 3-3 before winning at home to settle the tie while Walsall, who won 1-0 on a Lightbourne goal in the first leg two weeks ago, were beaten by a goal in each half as Watford clinched the tie 2-1 with a 2-0 win.

"Hopefully we can concentrate on the league now,'' said Lightbourne, whose team is last in the Second Division. Watford also missed a penalty.

"Most of the players are saying this could be a blessing in disguise that we are out of the Cup.'' Walsall are still without a win in the league and will be hoping to begin their climb up the tables with at least a point away to Blackpool on Saturday.

"It's going to be a tough season for us, without a doubt,'' said Lightbourne.

After losing last season's captain, midfielder Martin O'Connor, and winger Scott Houghton, both to Peterborough, Walsall adopted a new style of playing without wide players. But after little success, they have gone back to their old 4-4-2 format.

They have picked up two new players, Mark Blake, a midfielder formerly with Leicester City and Aston Villa, and striker Andy Watson who was signed yesterday from Blackpool for 60,000.

"Hopefully we can get things going,'' said Lightbourne. "We have only played one game at home this season and we're looking forward to playing at home because we feel we can beat most teams at our ground.'' Kyle Lightbourne