Nathan Trott watched from teh stands as his Cardiff City advanced to the third round of the Carabao Cup with a convincing 3-0 win over visiting Cheltenham Town at Cardiff City Stadium on Tuesday night.

The Bermudian stopper did not feature in the second round cup tie as manager Brian Barry-Murphy made seven changes to his starting XI from the one that edged Nahki Wells’s Luton Town in the Sky Bet League One in their previous outing three days earlier.

The Bluebirds, who are unbeaten in all competitions so far this season, started strongly and went close to breaking the deadlock when Yousef Salech’s shot struck the crossbar.

But the hosts kept their foot on the gas and finally broke Cheltenham’s resistance through Isaak Davies, who latched onto Dakarai Mafico’s pass and buried his shot into the bottom right-corner.

Davies also had a hand in Cardiff’s second goal as he whipped in a corner which captain Calum Chambers powerfully headed into the net.

Brilliant goalkeeping by Trott’s replacement Matthew Turner denied the Robins the chance to claw a goal back as he tipped Lee Angol’s effort from twelve yards onto his post to preserve the Bluebirds’ two-goal advantage at the interval.

Cardiff started the second half on the front foot and it was virtually game over when Joel Colwill got on the end of sibling and substitute Rubin Colwill’s pass in the box and lashed the ball past Cheltenham stopper Joe Day to put the match beyond the visitors reach.

League Two side Cheltenham went close to scoring against the run of play but were once again denied as Ethon Archer’s shot hit the post.

Trott, whose heroics against Luton at the weekend earned him man of the match accolades, has kept four clean sheets and conceded just twice in five appearances since returning to English football with League One leaders Cardiff on a season-long loan from Danish champions FC Copenhagen last month.

The 26-year-old is now expected to reclaim his place in Barry-Murphy’s starting XI for Saturday’s League One commitment at home to Plymouth Argyle.