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Every Friday, Town No.2 looks back on the past week at The County Ground.

This week, he talks of a win over his old side, some well earned down time, and a certain Argentinian striker......

After such a great display at Leeds last weekend, the game on MONDAY against Tranmere was always going to be tough for us.

And we were a little bit concerned about it I have to say, even though the players had looked full of beans in training on Sunday, because you just never know how it's going to turn out when you've got two games in less than 48 hours.

But the boys did terrifically well in the end. It was a bit of a slow start which was to be expected, but eventually I thought we moved the ball particularly well.

Obviously it was helped by their going down to 10 men, but that wasn't our fault and it was a good, professional display in the end.

We wanted to guard against any complacency that might have crept in after such an excellent result at Elland Road, and to their credit, there was no sign of that amongst the lads at all which was great.

From a personal point of it was nice to see a few old faces from Tranmere at the game.

There are some really nice people there who I was pleased to see, but at the end of the day in football you tend to just get on with what you're doing, and I was most happy to see us win.

We decided to give the players both TUESDAY and WEDNESDAY off, having had the two games in 48 hours last weekend, and with the same pattern of games to come in the next few days.

It's important to give them the chance to put their feet up when we can, and I think a couple of days' down time will stand them in good stead ready for the two big games over this weekend.

With the transfer window closed I took the opportunity to just have a rest for a couple of days, and I think Danny did the same.

We've been travelling around a lot recently with the trips to Hartlepool and Leeds in the last few weeks, and that really takes its toll after a while.

So it was good for us to have a bit of a break and recharge the batteries ready for the preparation for the games against Colchester and Exeter in the next few days.

But it wasn't a completely free two days for some of the lads, as we sent a strong squad down to Plymouth for a reserve game.

Despite a 1-0 defeat for the boys, we got some good reports back and it sounds like they put on a pretty good show, so their fitness levels will be up there now which is important because we must have them nice and fresh for the rest of the season.

Away from the club, I watched both Champions League Quarter-Finals involving English clubs, and I have to say I felt a little for Manchester United.

But Arsenal were well beaten and it was great to see Messi's individual brilliance, because he really is awesome.

We had the players back in for training on THURSDAY and they looked sharp, and very bright which was encouraging.

It was a lovely day as well which helped with the spirits and made everyone a bit more lively than they would have been on a greyer day.

Everyone was very positive indeed, and obviously full of confidence after some good results recently.

We worked on a few things with Colchester in mind, as we know what to expect from them, and hopefully what we've told the players will have registered and they can implement it at the weekend.

FRIDAY was another good session for the lads, and we ironed out a few issues with the weekend preparation, and we'll be travelling around lunchtime ready for an overnight stay in Essex.

As I mentioned, we do know what to expect from Colchester, but it's important we don't get too carried away with that because it doesn't always pan out the way you're expecting.

They've got some decent footballers there, and haven't been there or thereabouts this season for nothing, so we've got be on our game and I'm sure the lads will be.

See you there,

Peter Shirtliff

...........and one more from you..............

Had you faced Lionel Messi during your playing career, how would you have dealt with him?

A. Hardman, Yorkshire

PS - "I don't really know! I don't think I would have stayed on the pitch long if I'm honest!"