DESPITE the disappointments of our recent run in the league, our season is very much alive and in particular with interest remaining in the two cup competitions.

For a club with our tradition, the FA Cup has always got a bit of magic. We've kept on saying to the players you have to get through ties like Radcliffe Borough and Southport for the potential glamour tie and the whole ambition of the club this weekend is just to get through and progress towards the third round.

In addition to the FA Cup, which is important financially and always creates a lot of interest, we are still involved in the LDV Vans Trophy after winning penalty shoot-outs against a League 1 and a League 2 side.

The reward is an outstanding fixture against the trophy holders Blackpool at Edgar Street.

A lot of managers dismiss the early rounds of the LDV Vans Trophy as being of no great significance but, having experienced a final at Wembley in front of 80,000 people, I know just how important it can be.

We aim to go as far in that competition as we can and we don't see it as impossible that we could get through to the final.

I did face a dilemma after making changes for the Doncaster game with Graham Hyde coming in and Ryan Green, Jamie Pitman and Lee Mills being left out.

The performance was so good that it was difficult to decide whom to bring back in for Saturday's game against Barnet. I've always believed in that old adage that if there is any doubt about your team selection then leave it alone, so we picked the same side and I thought the performance was very encouraging.

Barnet have had a great season so far and they are a very good side but I thought we more than matched them. They were mightily relieved to be going away with a point.

We have not got a big squad compared to some others. We have 19 players but with the exception of Andy Williams, who is in his first year as a pro and still feeling his way, the rest are fairly senior.

Although Lee Mills, who was ill, didn't make it on Saturday, with people like Ryan Green, Andy Tretton and Jamie Pitman on the bench there's a lot of experience waiting to come back.

If you are going to be successful you have to have competition for places and we certainly have that at the moment.