AFTER three good away performances in a week at Wimbledon, Aston Villa and Bristol Rovers, the world has suddenly begun to look a much brighter place.

At Wimbledon, despite our team being disrupted by injuries, we were well worth a point.

At Aston Villa, against one of the top Premier League clubs in the country, we held them for 80 minutes and started to get them really rattled.

And then, at Bristol Rovers, against one of the League 2 promotion favourites, we gave as good as we got for most of the game and with a little bit of luck might have come away with a win.

The Carling Cup tie at Aston Villa was one of those nights which you really look forward to as a professional and the whole experience gave us a boost.

It was fantastic to look up behind the goal and see the sea of Hereford faces all enjoying their night out.

We could hear the cheering from the Bulls fans throughout the game and it really gave the players on the pitch a lift.

I hope that everyone who went to Villa Park was impressed by the show that the players put on for you.

And it would be great if everyone who made the trip came on down to Edgar Street for one of our next games to let us show you what we are capable of in League 2.

The boost in confidence that we all got from the game at Villa Park could be a crucial factor in our season.

I’m sure everyone who was at the Memorial Stadium last Saturday could see the lift that the players had received from such a good performance against a top side.

Two who have really given their all at Villa Park, and again at Bristol, were Ryan Green and Michael Townsend.

Ryan showed what a quality player he is while Michael, who has come in from some criticism recently, also gave a tremendous display.

For the pair of them to shut out the England centre-forward Darren Bent was a terrific achievement for League 2 players.

The pair of them showed the confidence they have gained with another clean sheet against difficult opponents at Bristol.

As players and staff, we now believe that we have something to build on.

We know that there are some tough games ahead but the way we dealt with Bristol Rovers on Saturday was another important step forward in building our selfbelief.

The Memorial Stadium is a very tough place to go and most teams in the division will be quite happy to leave there with a point.

Paul Buckle is an experienced manager at this level and knows how to organise his teams well.

Defensively, we were excellent down there. The next thing is to increase our belief that we can go on and win games from that sort of position.

But at least we are grafting out points now and I believe that we are getting better with every game.

In the lead-up to the transfer deadline, we were able to boost our squad by bringing in three young players on loan last week.

Thomas Barkhuizen came in from Blackpool, Will Evans arrived from Swindon and Sam Winnal has joined us from Wolves.

While they are all young players, I know what they can do and they will all have an important part to play over the next few months.

There is now competition for places throughout the squad and, as far as I am concerned, that can only be a good thing and will raise standards throughout the club.