IT'S a big day for Worcester City Football Club tomorrow when we take on Crawley Town in the first leg of the Dr Martens League Cup final.

It has been 41 years since we were last in the final, so it is one to look forward to for everybody at the club.

Over the last few years I have had some decent times in this competition, winning it when I was in charge at Burton in 1997, and it has proved valuable to the clubs I have been associated with.

In the early rounds many people would not see this competition as a priority.

But we are well aware that the FA Cup does not go on for ever and nor does the FA Trophy, so the importance of this competition takes on greater significance the deeper into the season you go.

It is an opportunity to put the club's name on the honours' list.

Crawley, of course, will be looking at it from the same point of view as us. They have a few more games to catch up on their league programme, but they will see the importance of this as well.

When you get to a final you can't pick and choose your opponents, you have to take who you get.

We have to remember it is a two-legged final - nothing is decided on the night - so any advantage we can get to take into the second leg at Crawley the following week will be welcome.

I thought the Crawley game in the league was a little bit of a watershed for us. We were stuck up against the wall that day, and the players responded magnificently.

Had we not got through that game, I don't know when our fortunes would have turned.

What we have shown recently is a lot of spirit and they have bounced back from adversity, which is nice to see.

All runs have to come to an end -- what you don't want is your bad runs to go on for too long.

The young lads in the squad have done very well. They have given us some fresh impetus and younger legs in the team, and have come in and made contributions at a time they were needed.

The game at Newport on Good Friday was an interesting one to go into, having beaten them in the semi-final a few days before, to see how we would respond to that.

But we came through it without too much trouble and on chances it could have been a more convincing victory.

Monday's 4-1 victory against Halesowen Town has almost certainly sentenced them to relegation.

It is always sad to see one of your local sides look as if they are going to go down, but you can't afford to let your thoughts get away from focusing on your own situation.

It's no concern of ours why they have got themselves into trouble. It is a shame for them, but let's not lose sight of the fact that it could have been us last year.

Midway through the second-half, from being two goals up we looked quite vulnerable. But we have seen it through and as the goals in the first-half came at the right time, so did those after the break.

Marc Burrow scored another fine goal and he has weighed in with some important strikes. He has been encouraged to get into the penalty box and get on the end of things.

For a young lad who hasn't had the most positive of seasons with Bromsgrove, he has come along, awaited his chance and he has taken the opportunity and created an impression.

We play another struggling side, Fisher, on Saturday in our last home game of the season. We finish off with four away games, so it will be nice to finish with a positive performance for the fans, and hopefully we have given them the improvement we talked about back in July.