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In the post match interviews Birmingham manager Steve Bruce told reporters:
"We are pleased to get through. In the first half I was delighted with how we played. After the break we didn't do things properly and got sloppy.
"In football, if you think it is going to be easy you can get your backside kicked - and we nearly did. We owe a lot to our keeper.
"He made three or four really good saves and he is the big plus point of the night for me.
"We saw him last season in Sweden playing for FC Hammarby and we watched him play for Ghana last week. He is a very good keeper.
"He can be proud of his debut and he has given me a selection problem which is a nice situation for a manager to have.
"I have seen lots of lower division teams just get the ball and lump it up the pitch.
Of Hereford..."They tried to play football and that stems from the manager who
plays football in the right way.
"His team played with no fear and they have some lively individuals. They made it into a bit of a cup tie. We didn't want that but all credit to them.
""But you also have to give credit to Hereford. Maybe it's because the manager, Graham Turner, is also the chairman and he can't sack himself, but they played without fear, took the game to us and made a real cup tie of it."
Bulls boss Graham Turner said: "We can take a lot of pride from tonight but we don't want to be good losers and ultimately that is what we were on this occasion. We didn't play well in the first half. We allowed them too much space and they dictated things.
"In the second half we had a bit of extra belief, passed the ball well and created some good chances. Their keeper made some outstanding saves.
"It was an encouraging performance. I was pleased we didn't let ourselves down. Now we have to make sure this was not a one-off and continue it on in our league programme."
