TUESDAY night's win over Grimsby was one of those FA Cup nights to savour.

In such uncertain times for the club, the result has given the players and supporters a lift, but the pleasing thing from my point of view was that we thoroughly deserved it.

Some people are still questioning the value of the Cup given that less than 10,000 people were at Middlesbrough as they beat Wimbledon.

But if there is anything to dispel the myth that the FA Cup has lost its appeal then our win and performance against Grimsby should do it.

It was an emotional night for everyone, probably the best since I came to the club almost two years ago.

When you think back to our first Cup tie against Colchester, we had four players in the starting line-up making their FA Cup debuts with another two players on the bench without Cup experience.

I have said all along we are a young team and we are going to be inconsistent as we make mistakes, learn from them and improve.

But the fact we can beat Second and First Division teams - we also took Crewe close in the Worthington Cup - does show the potential of this side if we can find some consistency in the League.

And while we haven't won in the League for some time, Tuesday's result means we have gone four games unbeaten now.

Hopefully, we can continue that on Saturday against Rushden and Diamonds. Every team has a run at some stage in the season. We haven't had one yet so maybe this is our time.

Experience does help and it was perhaps no coincidence that on Tuesday night, apart from Chris Brass, the team was about as experienced as we can put out, particularly with the likes of Alex Mathie and Peter Duffield on the bench.

One thing is for certain, we are going to need all the players over the next few weeks as the games come thick and fast.

Starting with Tuesday night's game, by the end of February we should have played 13 games in that short space of time.

The only slightly disappointing thing then to come out from the Cup win was that both Lee Bullock and Darren Edmondson picked up their fifth bookings of the season and will now be suspended for the League game with Hull.

But we have had quite a few players on four yellow cards for some time, so it was always going to happen and at least Lee and Darren will not be missing for the game with Fulham.

And on the positive side, when they are out it will give someone else an opportunity to come in and stake a claim.

Despite all the uncertainty surrounding the future of the club, it is not out of the question that I could look to bring someone in on loan.

The chairman has said that if we felt we had a major problem in a certain area then there is a possibility we could go out and get someone.

But Brassy should be okay within the next few days, I hope Mark Maley will be back within the next week or so and John Fielding has got the all-clear to up his training now.

And to be fair to the players that you have got, you must give them every chance possible.

If things aren't going right it is easy to think about bringing players in but part of the job is going with what you've got and trying to improve what you've got.

We have to feel that we can do that.

Updated: 09:11 Thursday, January 17, 2002