BARROW AFC boss Stephen Clemence believes the cup draw against Chelsea is reward for everyone involved with the club.

The 3-2 penalty shoot-out victory over Championship outfit Derby County saw the Bluebirds drawn against Premier League giants Chelsea.

Clemence says that is fantastic news for the club on a number of levels.

He told The Mail: “To go through was nice, and then to get the reward of going down to Chelsea in a few weeks’ time is fantastic.

“One it’s great for the owners.

“They put their hands in their pockets at this football club every month to keep it going really, as well as the supporters who spend their hard-earned money to come and support us.

“So, I think it is great that we will get some revenue through the door from the fixture, and it’s great for the supporters to go a Premier League ground, and a big club.

“Also I think it’s brilliant for the players.

“When you grow up wanting to be a football player and you become quite good at it, you dream of playing at places like Stamford Bridge.

“A lot of the players won’t have played there, in fact I’m not sure if any of the players will have played there.

“They are going to get the opportunity to do that now, which is fantastic.”

It is an opportunity that Clemence feels his players deserve after their display against the Rams.

He said: “Obviously I’m really proud of the boys with their performance.

“I felt even though we won it on penalties, I thought the boys performed really, really well in the 90 minutes.

“Of course, Paul Farman made some very good saves as well, but I felt the performance up against a Championship team was absolutely outstanding.”

Before that trip to Stamford Bridge, the Bluebirds have plenty of other tests ahead of them – the first being tomorrow’s away-day against Harrogate Town.

And Clemence says that all focus will be on North Yorkshire rather than West London this weekend.

He said: “There’s a quite a few weeks now before we play Chelsea so the focus is firmly back on the next game which Harrogate Town tomorrow.

“We will continue to focus on one game at a time, because they are coming thick and fast and if you don’t do that you can get caught out.

“We have a good set of lads here and as I keep saying the atmosphere around the place has been brilliant since the day I walked through the door.

“Now we have beaten a Championship side and have a draw against a Premier League side, but I know everyone isn’t getting carried away.

“It’s on to the next one and let’s go and see if we can get another win.”