With his first half brace turning the tide against Swindon Town in the Carabao Cup, Yousef Salech spoke to Cardiff City TV after helping the Bluebirds reach Round Two.
"We're very pleased." the striker began. "The goal was to get through to the next round, and we've done that through 90 minutes today. Now we're excited for the next round, and for the league season to start.
"We're very excited and optimistic. We deserve to be here - we believe that, but we're not just happy to be here. We really want to make an impact and have a good season, so we're prepared. We can't wait for it to start next Monday.
"I think Swindon had a good performance today; they didn't make it easy for us. I felt that it was a step up, physically especially. It's a big part of my game, which I enjoy doing for the team, for the fans and for the Clubs. I try to do my best in those battles.
"Looking back at last season, two of the best atmospheres and feelings that we had were in this Cup - against Wrexham away and Chelsea at home. We can't think too far about the rounds right now, and who we want to meet; it's just about taking one round at a time and making sure we qualify each round to have a good Cup run."
Salech opened his account for the competitive campaign with a well-taken penalty just before the half hour mark, and added a second with a fine finish from Cian Ashford's eye-catching cross.
Discussing both goals, Yousef said: "I feel comfortable in taking penalties - I enjoy it, actually. It's something I've always done. I had one penalty last season, and one the season before in the Championship, so it felt quite natural for me.
"I was very pleased [with the second goal]. When I had the contact, I had a feeling it was going straight into the goal. It was an excellent cross by Ash [Cian Ashford], which only made it easier for me to take some power off the ball and direct it on goal.
"I enjoy playing with everyone, but Ash has done a lot of improvement in his central role during pre-season - finding a lot of good spaces and getting opportunities to feed us in front of him, or create chances for himself."
Watch more from Yousef, Cian and Brian Barry-Murphy on Cardiff City TV.