Having played an impressive 90 minutes at Soham on Wednesday evening, Ben Farrell followed up with 15 minutes against Coventry on Saturday and had the confidence to insist on taking the penalty he earned within three minutes of coming on.

"It was a tough game and a good work-out," he said afterwards. "The big difference against Championship opposition is the time on the ball - a couple of times I thought I had time and I turned and the next moment you're closed down, so it's entirely different."

The 22-year-old powered the penalty home via the inside of the post and a little help from diving goalkeeper Danny Holland, but beforehand he'd had hold tight to the ball in a good-natured exchange with Robbie Willmott, who also fancied his chances.

"It hit the post and I thought it was coming back out so I was ready for the rebound, but lucky enough it hit his head and went back in," admitted Ben.

"I like taking penalties," he added, "but there would be a lot of arguing because Lee McEvilly and a few of the other boys love taking penalties, but I like taking them.

"I used to score a lot of penalties when I was younger but I haven't taken many in the last few years, but when I got taken down I just stepped forward for the chance to take it."

After joining from part-timers Bedford Town in January, Ben is relishing his first full-time pre-season as a professional footballer. Gary Brabin has been working the players hard with double sessions most days but he enthused: "It's brilliant - I'm coming in every day and enjoying it so much."

[Match report]

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