WE'VE been pretty fortunate in cup competition draws this season -- picking out several home ties and lower-graded opponents.

So there can be no complaints drawing Crawley away in round two of the FA Trophy. It was always likely that we would meet a Conference side at this stage of the competition.

Of course, we wanted to be at St George's Lane again, but we went to Accrington Stanley and managed a draw, so we must be positive going to the Broadfield Stadium.

I played against Crawley for Carlisle last season, but they've changed their boss since and made some new signings.

They have struggled in the league this year, but I expect them to be among the better Conference teams next season.

They are a good club on the up and have recently invested a lot of money, so they are looking to build for the future.

This is another good test for us and all the pressure will be on Crawley to prevail. But we sh-ould take encouragement from our 1-1 draw at Accrington in the FA Cup.

Nine times out of 10, Stanley would have beaten us, but that was one of those games where we were at our best and they were not quite at theirs.

Since we knocked them out of the FA Cup, Accrington have practically beaten every team and are four points clear at the top of the table.

We definitely don't want to draw at Crawley. The last thing we want is a replay, which would almost certainly mean putting another league game back. However, we would rather draw than lose.

When we went to Accrington, we stifled them to earn a draw -- a great result. It will probably be different at Crawley.

It won't be cavalier football, but will go there and play as positively as we can be.

We had problems getting that all-important goal against Hayes to make it through the first round tie and I was panicking that it would not come.

But we deserved to win and I'm pleased that we could win without Des Lyttle and Adam Webster in the side. We were a bit stretched and the lads that came in, Danny Hodnett and Sam Wedgbury, gave good accounts of themselves.

I was pleased for George Clegg. He's still working his way to full-fitness but you can see him getting better with each game.

I understood some supporters were unhappy with the substitution of Tom Warmer.

Tommy was outstanding in the first-half, but he picked up a yellow card and I had a word with him at half-time.

It was a risk keeping him on because the last thing we wanted was for him to pick up another yellow card.

Because we are lacking strength in depth, it meant asking young lads Troy Wood and Ben Walker to come in.

Although I want to bring the young lads on, we are still in a precarious position. We still need points to get up the league.

If we come to the stage where we can't make the Nationwide North play-offs, then it would be a great position to bring the younger lads in.

I want them to play with freedom, not fear.

Finally, I would like to wish all Worcester City supporters a merry Christmas.