THE FA Cup is always a welcome break from the league and the match against Stockport County was eagerly anticipated with the Hatters bringing more fans than their average home crowd.

It certainly made for a good atmosphere as it brought back memories from the early 1990s when we were both close rivals going for promotion from what is now League One.

County then fell upon hard times, leading to going out of the Football League in the early 2000s, because of an unpaid debt of around £250,000. That is quite a sobering thought when you consider the debt we got into. It is good to see they are making somewhat of a revival these days and best wishes to them. The anticipated return of Antoni Sarcevic did not materialise as he had picked up a knock in training.

But the welcome award of new contracts for four Bolton players augurs well for the future and maybe suggests what was behind the captain’s surprise departure.

Ian Evatt looked for a further boost in confidence after the comprehensive midweek Papa John’s Trophy win against Rochdale, as he named an unchanged team.

For the neutral, it was a cracking first half cup match with Stockport being gifted their first goal and Bolton hitting back through Eoin Doyle and Elias Kachunga, only for County to grab an equaliser just before half time. By comparison, the second half was a damp squib with neither team looking like winning. So, it is back to Edgeley Park to sort out who goes through to the second round.

The Wanderers were on a hiding to nothing as Stockport enjoyed their big day out. All credit to them as they turned out in numbers and got a result. We will just have to get it right in the replay, although that might be easier said than done. We could do with a decent cup run as we have not had one in ages.

In the league, I still maintain that it is all about establishing ourselves in this division before January and then see if and how we can strengthen the team in the transfer window and then see where we go from there. I think that these extra games will come in useful to help some of our players to get match fit and to boost the confidence of others.