We're going to Wembley!

What a fightback. Blues last night came from two goals down on aggregate to steamroller the newspapers' favourite club out of the Carling Cup. 2-1 down from the first leg became 3-1 when Carlton Cole scored a 30th-minute screamer, but an inspired substitution by Alex McLeish at half-time turned the tide and we just forced them back and back until they snapped, not once, or twice, but thrice.

Let's be honest: I had no real hopes going into this one - the thought that Arsenal will almost certainly steamroller us (or beat us on penalties, just like Liverpool did in 2001) took the edge off this game, so when Cole did score I didn't so much lose interest but put on that new insulating coat I discovered a few years ago to prevent Blues' constant disappointments from wounding too deeply. But I couldn't keep away from the radio, and heard Bowyer's superb equaliser. Couldn't handle the thought of listening any more, so we watched a couple of comedy shows while the old itch compelled me to keep a regular check on my iPod for the latest scores. 1-1 became 2-1 became 2-1ET became 3-1 and we held out to make our first major Wembley final since 1956.

I don't want to become one of those fans for whom reaching the final is enough - what wouldn't we give to win this trophy for the second time in our history (doubling our major trophy count in the process!), but I can't allow myself to hope we'll pull off a shock on 27th February. Been a Bluenose too long for that, so for now I'll enjoy this moment while it lasts...