It was Hannibal Smith of The 'A Team who said that he "loved it when a plan came together".

Well, last night (Thursday) in Austria a plan certainly came together for Blues.

Not for the first time the rain was thumping down from the heavens, but that didn't prevent all the hard work undertaken by Alex McLeish and his team so far on this pre-season trip culminating in a highly professional 3-1 win over FC Viktoria Plzen.

Often these warm-up games can be damp squibs.

Yes, they are usually valuable from the point of view of fitness levels and preparation, but when it comes to technical play the standard can often drop and all you see is a bit of pretty passing and barely a tackle put in.

But - and Blues fans can take great heart from this - this match was very different.

From the off Blues had bucketloads of attacking intent and when they came forward (defenders, midfielders and attackers) the play was incisive and caused the opposition huge problems.

Of course none of us should get too carried away, that would be foolish.

Two pre-season matches are not enough to fully predict how the new campaign will go but I guess the stand-out point is this - Alex McLeish wants to attack the Championship with a brand of positive, high tempo play.

Trialist Zola Matumona

And the morning after the fine display against Plzen, a reflective McLeish was still purring: "We were effective.

"We knocked it around well, were organised and defensively sound against a team from the Czech top division. We were by far the better football side and were a potent threat throughout."

Trialist Zola Matumona, a 26-year-old Congolese midfielder on the books of FC Brussels, was an impressive performer on his first appearance for Blues and his display couldn't fail to catch the eye of McLeish.

He said: "Zola was in for a trial with us through the season but you never really get a true reflection in training.

"He played on the left flank against Plzen, even though he often plays as an attacking midfielder, and was excellent.

"He plays for his country (DR Congo) and is a significant player in that team. We asked if we could have a look at him and he has trained as well as anyone.

" He's quick, light on his feet and has good technique."

In fact there was praise for all of the players, in what was another impressive squad display - Alex used all of his seven substitutes at one time or another.

And the policy is paying dividends by keeping everyone on their toes.

Garry O'Connor

McLeish finished: "Gary McSheffrey was excellent on the right for us last night, the back four were solid and Jordon Mutch put in another mature performance.

"I was delighted once again with the application and endeavour of all of the lads.

"Competition is really healthy. Every player won't play every single game.

"There will be players who will play more than others, that's the same at any club, but if players see the ambition the club is showing in building a squad it should inspire them.

"Someone like Garry O'Connor is a good example of that.

"He's come back to pre-season in great shape and has made a good start. He knows there's competition for places up front and is rising to the challenge."

Here at bcfc.com and via BluesWorld we are bringing you all the latest news and views from our pre-season visit to Austria.

Later today BluesWorld subscribers will be able to see exclusive extended highlights and all the goals from the 3-1 victory over FC Viktoria Plzen.