WHEN Bradford's penalty went in on Saturday, I felt, as I'm sure everyone else did, that it was a sickening blow.

We had seen the scores on the scoreboard and were thinking that we just needed a point.

But it was just one of those things; it was a rush of blood and the sort of mistake that we have all made.

Stefan Stam has been fantastic for us since he has come in and, even after the game, he was saying that he really did not know what he had been doing.

When the penalty was awarded, we still had hope that Adam Bartlett might pull off one of his great saves but, to be fair, the penalty was very well taken.

We held in there but I couldn't really see us scoring until Stuart Fleetwood, once again, came up trumps for us.

In the dressing room after the game, the main emotion among the players was relief; I don't think the size of what we had achieved had sunk in with any of us.

And from the position we started from, it has been an unbelievable achievement.

Since I took over, we have been a top 12 side in a very competitive league and it has been very tough.

Having made such a poor start, it has been a fantastic turnaround and the players have done very well.

We all enjoyed the celebrations afterwards. A few of us went into town and I remembered the days when I played and a few of us used to live locally and we would all go out together. As long as you are sensible and look after yourself properly, I can see no problem with it - especially after the season we have had.

On Monday, it was a real pleasure to make a playing comeback in the Adam Stansfield Memorial game in Exeter.

I ended up playing for 75 minutes at St James Park and it was a fantastic occasion - there were a lot of explayers who played with Adam and it showed just how popular he was.

I played alongside some lads I had some great battles with during my career and one in particular, Michael McIndoe, played in front of me on the day.

It was very enjoyable to play with lads of that quality.

It was a great opportunity to remember Adam and all he contributed to the clubs he played for.

The turn-out was tremendous and it was a good game to be involved in.

That sort of thing brings a reality check back to your life.

Yes, this year has been stressful for me but when I think of the situation that Adam and his family have had to go through then it's all meaningless, really.

Now this season is almost over, it's time to look to the future.

We need to get a group of players together who are going to be competitive.

I think I did that during my time this season with the loan signings that we made but now I want to bring some continuity to the club and ensure that we have belief among a squad of players that we can compete.

The groundwork is there and now we must build on that. A lot of what we can do will be dictated by the budget and we will just have to do what we can within those constraints and I shall be sitting down and talking with chairman David Keyte about just that.