A clutch of senior players who have found themselves sidelined under new boss Paul Lambert let their feet do all the talking last night.Gary Doherty, Wes Hoolahan, Darel Russell - all subject to transfer speculation - and goalkeeper Michael Theoklitos were all under orders not to speak to the media after last night's opening reserve team fixture of the season, a 5-0 win over Southend.

A clutch of senior players who have found themselves sidelined under new boss Paul Lambert let their feet do all the talking last night.

Gary Doherty, Wes Hoolahan, Darel Russell - all subject to transfer speculation - and goalkeeper Michael Theoklitos were all under orders not to speak to the media after last night's opening reserve team fixture of the season, a 5-0 win over Southend.

The instruction came from Lambert - the very man they were out to impress - who put them in a team that mixed youth and experience.

And while Doherty got his name on the scoresheet and Theoklitos, after his seven-goal humiliation on the opening day, kept a clean sheet, it was the sight of Hoolahan running the show that was the real eye-catcher.

“With the young boys you know what you are going to get because this is a step up and they are going to drive on and try and impress the new manager,” said reserves boss Ian Crook.

“But the older boys that have found themselves out of the first team for whatever reason, I thought their attitude was absolutely first class - there was nothing but good things about them.

“What can I saw about him (Wes) tonight, he was excellent. If Wes comes into tonight with a bad attitude, then he doesn't perform like that. His attitude was spot on, he has done everything. I said to him beforehand, 'when a manager leaves you out, don't give him an excuse to make it easy the next time', and to be fair they didn't do that tonight. They made it difficult for him.”