SPIRITS are high after our superb win against Bath City and it was the perfect way to sign off league action for two weeks.

Thumping seven past the Romans was just the tonic we needed ahead of our FA Cup clash with Nuneaton Borough and the most pleasing aspect was the quality of our football - it was outstanding.

What matters now is that we build on that to produce another good performance at Manor Park.

I'm under no illusions that we can rise to such heights as the Bath display every week but if that was a nine or 10 out of 10 show I don't want to see us slipping back down to a three or four out of 10 effort which is what we've been prone to doing.

I'm looking for us to achieve a greater degree of consistency and, to carry on with the numerical theme, come up with a seven or eight type display.

One of the plus points from the Bath win was that it sent us into this two-week break from the league in good heart and that's important following a demanding start to the season.

Carl Heeley grabbed the headlines following Saturday's game and sometimes you run out of ways to describe his immense contribution but the fact is he turns up, week in, week out, and always delivers.

He's been like that since the first day I came to the club and as a manager it's fantastic to be able to call on a players like that.

Saturday's Boro clash will mean a return to one of my old stamping grounds and I've got some great FA Cup memories from my time there.

While I was in charge there we beat Swansea City in a replay and also lost to Bournemouth in the second round in front of the Sky cameras.

That was another replay and the scorer of the Cherries' goal on that day was Steve Cotterill.

Probably the biggest disappointment about that day was the third round draw. We could have been drawn against anyone but got lumped with a prospective tie at Preston on a plastic pitch, which didn't quite fire the imagination.

At the very top level the FA Cup seems to have lost a bit of its allure with some Premiership clubs fielding weakend sides and more concerned with the league table. That's a great shame.

It's also unfortunate that the FA have cut the prize money available in the earlier rounds this year. When Adam Crozier put the money up it was a good thing for clubs. It put added pressure on both managers and players and the disappointment was that much greater when you lost.

Now there has been a shift in distribution once again towards the big clubs from the third round onwards.

But having said all of that, the FA Cup remains a great competition and, if you've been in the game long enough, everyone somewhere and somehow has a story to tell.

JOHN BARTON was talking to reporter NAT SYLVESTER.