AN outstanding first half display on Monday night not only booked us a cup final place but has also given me food for thought ahead of Saturday's Dover game.

If a squad's strength can be measured by its substitutes' bench then I would say ours is looking very healthy.

The victory against Halesowen Town in the Worcestershire Senior Cup semi-final, though not quite as clear-cut as it should have been, featured some strong performances from players who recently have spent a fair bit of time on the bench.

Adam Webster, Darren Middleton and Liam McDonald, with another promising display, all revealed their eagerness for a return to league action and showed it with their efforts and they will all be knocking on the door giving me a selection headache.

The Senior Cup might not have the attraction of the FA competitions but come the final the players will relish the chance of some silverware.

In the first half against the Yeltz we produced some excellent football that would have taken apart many teams. The quality was so good that inevitably I knew there was going to be a dip after the break but I'd not quite anticipated it being as dramatically as it was.

We went from a collective nine out of 10 display to a three out of 10 performance when it needed to be a seven. But that's something we'll take on board and can work on.

Saturday's second half display at Cambridge was also strong and while there's disappointment we didn't take three points, the fact is, it's another match unbeaten and the point keeps us fourth in the Dr Martens Premier Division.

Among the pluses to emerge from the last two games were Shabir Khan's league debut at Milton Road and Jai Stanley's form in general.

Shabir took a nasty knock on the ankle at Cambridge but battled on and reinforced the good impression created during his start against Moor Green in the Dr Martens League Cup.

Meanwhile Jai is starting to show why we brought him to the club and there will be more to come when he gets fully fit.

Assessing the picture overall there is plenty to be optimistic about but there is still a lot of work to do to make that next stage and make us a real force in this division.

John Newman and I were talking about the second half at Cambridge and saying, good as it was, it was still not good enough to win the game.

We've still to reach that next stage or level that legitimately brackets us alongside Crawley Town or Weymouth.

I don't think, over the season to date, that we have earned the right just yet to be talked about in the same league as those two.

Don't get me wrong, we're striving hard to get there, and have been for a couple of seasons, but we're not there yet, if we are being brutally honest.

But progress is being made and I don't think anyone would disagree with that. We've had eight games of continually trying to improve and giving the players something to prove and it is slowly taking shape.

If we could string together the second half display at Cambridge with the first half on Monday against Halesowen in a 90 minute display then we would be well on course to making that next step.

Saturday's draw was ultimately frustrating because recent results had gone our way but we couldn't capitalise.

However the draw keeps the end column ticking over though we must make it pay with maximum points from consecutive home games against Dover and Grantham.