I DOUBT many teams will have had two such contrasting games back to back as we have had.

Last Saturday it was Merstham, then on Tuesday we were at Stamford Bridge!

I think we have got as much out of the week as we could possibly have asked for.

Both games represented very different challenges, but we have made progress in both the FA Cup and the Checkatrade Trophy, while a number of players have done really well on their return to first-team football.

Taking the Merstham game first, it was a bit of a no-win situation for us.

In the end we played well, beat them 5-0 and did a thoroughly professional job.

But most people watching it on TV were cheering for the other side and will have been disappointed to see us do our jobs so well.

It wasn’t just the result that pleased me and the staff though.

Ryan Ledson did ever so well in what was his full debut, Aaron Martin looked very assured at the back and Tyler Roberts and Kane Hemmings both got among the goals.

All in all that is a good afternoon’s work and we thank Merstham for being such great hosts, and move on to a trip to Macclesfield in the next round.

On Tuesday night we swapped Merstham’s tight little ground for a game against the talented youngsters at Chelsea.

I know there were only 5,000 people there, but even so, playing at a fantastic stadium like Stamford Bridge was good for us.

It is always interesting to see a side like ours, full of experienced senior players, come up against the young internationals that Chelsea possess.

I was a kid at Manchester United, but it wasn’t until I went to Preston and played senior men’s football – where the result is everything – that I truly appreciated what it takes to win matches.

We were really good in the closing stages on Tuesday and that was because this is a squad full of fiercely competitive individuals.

It was great to see Kane score again to force a draw, although we then had the longest penalty shoot-out in history!

I knew we were through whatever the outcome of penalties, but it was still good to take it seriously and see how players responded to a little bit of pressure.

I think we found one or two who won’t be taking penalties for a while, although our goalkeeper Simon Eastwood definitely fancies the role after he powered his one in!

I WENT up to London on Tuesday afternoon with the chairman and club representatives for the transfer tribunal on Curtis Nelson.


We were there for a couple of hours and I thought presented our case extremely well. 


The final decision, £200,000 plus add-ons rising to £280,000 was a little in Plymouth’s favour.


But we believe we have a very talented young player on our books now, with a very bright future.


It is up to us to work with Curtis, help him develop, and make sure that it proves to be money well spent.