Birmingham City Cup defeat no disgrace - Wade Elliott
Last updated on .From the section Football
Birmingham City will have no problem rebounding from their FA Cup exit at the hands of Chelsea, according to veteran midfielder Wade Elliott.
Blues went down 2-0 in their fifth round replay at St Andrew's with a much-weakened team.
"The manager said we've played twice against a Champions League team and acquitted ourselves pretty well," Elliott told BBC WM.
"So there's a lot of positives to take out of the tie," he added.
"We were disappointed with the goals we gave away, it would've been nice to stay in the game a bit longer and seen if we could have made them a little bit jittery the longer the game went on."
The replay was Birmingham's 47th game of a season that could extend beyond the 60-match mark if they make the Championship play-offs, and Elliott acknowledges the defeat may ease their workload.
"Everybody feels pretty good, if we're playing a lot of games it means we're doing well," noted the 33-year old.
"I think the cup runs have been a boon to us, it's given people opportunities and you can take confidence from that into your league campaign."
The former Bournemouth and Burnley player has been in and out of boss Chris Hughton's team in recent weeks, but remains hopeful of being given a more significant role through the run-in.
"I can only do my best and then the manager makes his decision, so hopefully when I've played I've done okay and I can just keep pressing my claim."
