THE victory against Grays Athletic ranks as one of the best during my time as manager of Worcester City.

We have had some great results since I came to the club in December 2007.

In my first game in charge, we were 1-0 down against Barrow, had 10 men after Chris Smith was sent off and faced a penalty but we ended up getting a draw.

The team then went on a great run that month. Adam Webster and Mark Danks were on fire up front and we were solid at the back with Chris and Ryan Clarke.

So I have had a lot of good results with different players but the display on Saturday, and how we put a team like Blue Square Premier side Grays away, was fantastic.

Other games which spring to mind are the victory over AFC Wimbledon last season and the 1-0 win at Southport in January 2008.

The result at the weekend was particularly pleasing because training on Thursday was of a poor standard and I was bitterly disappointed.

The players knew how I felt and the reaction I got was fantastic.

We went into the match as underdogs but we were quietly confident that, if the majority of the team played to their full potential, we had a chance of winning.

Fortunately, all 11 put in a great shift.

I know we don’t play like that every week and do have bad performances when we are not clinical in front of goal.

The Grays management said afterwards that they couldn’t believe we were in the bottom four in our league.

I can’t believe it either sometimes but that’s the case.

We are there for a reason and that’s because we throw away games at crucial times.

We need to get a run going in the FA Trophy and hopefully that can help us pick up in the league.

There are massive games coming up in Blue Square South, not least against Newport County who are near enough promoted in my opinion.

I haven’t seen a better side but we have to try and take points off them as well as against Maidenhead at St George’s Lane this Saturday.

Hopefully, the league will look better for us after those matches.

Defender Shabir Khan returns from international duty in time for the Boxing Day match with Newport and, with forward Danny Carey-Bertram on loan, we have competition for places.

The squad is good for the money spent but if players have to move on in order for the club to progress then that is what will happen.

Shabir and Danny need to stay because I think they are quality players.

Danny’s movement off the ball is exceptional and something we haven’t had enough of lately.

It is now 12 months since the budget cuts at the club.

We had our Christmas party in Birmingham after we had been knocked out of the Trophy and I had to tell the players we needed to lose 25 per cent of the budget to survive or they wouldn’t be getting paid.

This year, we are still on a reduced budget but the atmosphere is decent, even though we are in a low position in the league.