STEVE WHITE COLUMN: YOU have to applaud the players this week after a superb performance in the Southern League Cup against Tiverton on Tuesday.

They reached a scintillating level of performance and Tiverton could not handle us.

We had pace and power on the break, our forwards were being released by superb passes and the visiting defence could not cope.

It is great to get through to the quarter-finals of the competition but it is getting difficult now as the better teams are left.

We watched Paulton Rovers get through against Merthyr Tydfil but we must respect every opponent at these later stages. We do not fear any teams and will go with whatever draw we get next week.

The players are on a roll at the moment and it is not proving difficult to motivate them. They are getting excited about every game and that is something a manager gets very happy about.

We have assembled a decent squad of players and they have proved they are a close unit.

Whichever side we seem to pick looks capable of winning games and are really exciting to watch. We have won ten of the last 13 games, that is impressive by any standards.

The boys have worked hard over January to get into this situation and you have to say they are on fire at the moment.

I was disappointed with the total lack of discipline the Tiverton players showed on Tuesday night. We know they are a side that plays the physical game but they committed foul after foul. And their manager wonders why his players get sent off.

I felt the referee had a good game and had no choice but to send Ian Harvey off for two challenges on Mark Badman.

I was reading on the BBC website that Sven-Goran Eriksson is to talk to Wayne Rooney about curbing his temperament.

I believe that if you take the fiery element out of the player you take some of his game away.

It is a question of self-control and I know it was a passionate local derby and some tempers were flying but the Tiverton players crossed the line.

They just could not accept they were beaten by a better side, we took them apart.

We did collect a few bookings ourselves. I think the yellow card to Badman was a little harsh but he showed his studs.

We make sure we always tell our players to be well disciplined and not to get involved in the little spats.

Our message to the players before the Tiverton game was to avoid getting in the harsh tackles and to avoid injuries.

Good players learn to ride challenges and stay out of trouble and our lads did just that.

At this stage of the season it is important to stay injury free and I am delighted that we came through the game relatively unscathed.

Gary Horgan limped off with a slight hamstring problem, we do not know how bad his injury is but I'm sure he will be back soon.

This week Martin Paul asked me to be put on the loan list to get a bit of match practice. He is not going anywhere unless it is beneficial to the club.

He is in my plans and the only way he is going to another club is on loan.

Martin has no wishes to leave the Chippenham on a permanent basis and we do not want him to go either.

I want to keep all my best players at the club and that includes Martin. He is a great finisher at this level and scored a clever goal on Tuesday night.

He has not featured much of late and was getting frustrated sitting on the bench, which is normal for any player.

He asked me to circulate his name around, which I have done. There have been several clubs interested in him and that has not surprised me.

But he is not going anywhere in a rush and he is not going to leave unless the situation is right.

Have a great weekend.