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It was a frustrating day for yours truly as I was left out of the starting line-up.

I went from the supporters' man of the match the previous week against Stranraer to being benched the following and I was left a bit shocked and certainly disappointed.

As soon as the manager walked into my hotel room on Saturday morning I knew what was coming. However, I'm trying to put a positive spin on things and hope to be back this weekend for our , against Elgin again but at home this time.

I've been looking forward to this weekend for a good wee while now. I was actually supposed to be going away on Friday for a few days with my partner Laura, thinking the club had a free Saturday due to the international weekend.

Obviously that's been hit on the head due to our success in the cup, so we're having a night in Edinburgh on Friday and then heading off straight after the game again on Sunday.

I've still not asked the manager for the night off training next week but after the number of no-shows we had on Monday night I'm hoping it's not going to be a problem.

That reminds me, I still need to get in touch with to tell him he is on the biscuits tomorrow night - partly because he wasn't at training, but most of all due to his goal celebration from Saturday!

While some of you might have been enjoying a Bank Holiday on Monday (most of our boys were enjoying the Sunday, I think), I was working as normal, but I raced home when I finished to catch the end of the usually exciting .

I wish I had taken my time now as it turned out to be a bit of an anti-climax. There were still a few deals going through up until the last second, and even beyond, but most we had already been told were possibilities over the weekend.

I really expected Manchester United and Chelsea to pull off a major signing but maybe this is simply a sign of the times.

Chelsea seem to be concentrating on tying up their most important players with following John Terry in the past few days.

I was glad to see Everton spending some money after - what a deal they got themselves there, by the way.

I've a soft spot for Everton, mainly because of my big mate Dave Kennedy, and .

I won't pretend to know anything much about , or even how to pronounce his name, but after their poor start to the season they needed a couple of players in and David Moyes has done just that.

Although weren't involved late in the window I've been really impressed with the signings Mark Hughes has made in the summer.

City have been linked with almost every top player in the world and, whether those players didn't want to come or it was simply paper talk, they never arrived.

The players that did join have all got Premier League experience and that's important for what City are trying to achieve this year.

Foreign players can often take time to settle and adjust to the English game but the new signings have all hit the ground running and that has shown in their start to the season.

City have some big challenges ahead, with Arsenal up next, but they just might be the team that splits the big four this season.