THE first round of the FA Cup is always one of the highlights of the season for me and most of the players and we can’t wait to take on Luton this afternoon.

On paper it’s a really tough draw; away at a side in great form and full of confidence.

I’m sure a lot of people will expect us to go out against a side who have won eight of their last ten games to climb to second in League Two.

But we’re in very good form as well with one defeat in 13 games in the league and we’re going to Kenilworth Road believing that, one way or the other, we will be in that hat for the draw for the second round on Monday.

It is always a tough place to go but we drew 2-2 there in the Conference in 2012/2103, a few months after beating the Hatters 5-2 at Rodney Parade.

People will say that Luton are a different proposition this time round and it’s true that they are riding a crest of a wave under John Still.

But we’re a better side than we were two years ago as well and, as our recent record shows, we’re pretty tough to beat at the moment so don’t write us off!

Last week’s match at Hartlepool was obviously a massive disappointment in the end and I can tell you that it was a pretty quiet coach on the long trip back from the North East.

We were 2-0 up and cruising before Andy Sandell’s red card and that changed the course of the game.

Andy is an experienced player and he knows that as our captain he shouldn’t have got himself into that situation but these things happen in football and we always win and lose (and draw) as a team.

I was really happy to be back in the starting XI but obviously the fact that we squandered that 2-0 lead and only brought a point home with us put a massive dampener on the whole day.

We’ve put that behind us now though after a good week of training and it’s a big boost that we’ve got Ryan Jackson and Mark Byrne back from injury today.

It’s great to see Rene Howe progressing really well with his injury as well but we’re all gutted for Robbie Willmott now that it looks like his foot injury will keep him out for the rest of the season.

Robbie has been a great player for us over the last few years and it’s a big blow to lose him but knowing him I’m sure he’ll come back from this injury and make a big impact again next season.

And with Jacko fit again and Curtis Obeng, Andrew Hughes and Sands we do have plenty of competition for those wing-back roles.

Our club golf day on Wednesday also helped raise morale and everyone who attended enjoyed a great day apparently.

I was on a coaching course so I missed all the fun but I'm told Mark Byrne’s team were the winners and Hughesy won the longest drive competition.

It’s been another good week for the under-18s and the boys’ 8-2 demolition of Taffs Well in the FAW Youth Cup last Sunday certainly helped me get over the disappointment of the day before.

We were 4-0 up at half-time at Llanwern High thanks to two goals from Aaron Collins and one each from Corey Shephard and Ben Brooks.

After the break we didn’t let our foot off the gas as Shephard added another two goals to complete his hat-trick and Dan Raymond also netted twice.

The boys are back in Football League Youth Alliance action this morning as they host Exeter City at 11am and, as ever, they’d be glad of your support if you can get along.

Exeter City will be out for revenge after we beat them in the FA Youth Cup last week but we'll be out to put one over on them again.

We’ll be up against MK Dons at Rodney Parade in the next round of the FA Youth Cup after they won 5-2 at Cambridge United on Wednesday night.

And if we can get through that tie we'll be away to Nottingham Forest at the City Ground in the next round so that is a massive incentive for the boys to progress.