CRAIG Cathcart claims the glamour of the Emirates was merely a 'stepping stone' as Argyle get back into Championship action against Crystal Palace today.

The 19-year-old Manchester United loan defender played in the FA Cup third round at Arsenal, and is keen to implement some of the lessons learned in that game.

Cathcart is keen to draw on the positives of the game, however, and claims that it was a positive experience for all concerned.

"This is the stepping stone after the Arsenal game," he said. "We did well in the first half but the goals we conceded were sloppy, and you obviously can't give goals like that away against quality teams. I'm sure everyone will learn from that.

"It is always good to prepare for playing big games and that is where I want to be one day - playing at the Emirates and in the Premiership, so it was a good experience for me.

"They were a very good side and they obviously played a lot of good football because that is what they do.

"The whole team played well and it was a good experience against one of the top sides in Europe, so, hopefully, we can take that into the league form as well."

It is that league form which needs to be addressed, and after a poor run of results for the Pilgrims, Cathcart claims a bit of good fortune is all that is required.

"We need to get back into the swing of things with league football because that's all we can look forward to," he said.

"Everyone goes into every game trying their hardest but things just haven't gone our way, and we need to get that bit of luck again and get winning."

Cathcart believes that Argyle's previous encounter against Palace, the 2-1 win at Selhurst Park in September, will give the Pilgrims some much-needed confidence.

He said: "Confidence was high going into that game and I think we can take a lot from the performance against them last time.

"They have got a decent squad with some Championship players, who have been around the league. They have decent strikers, so we'll have to be ready for them.

"We are at home, so we have to put our game on them and that will hopefully be enough to win the game. Most of the games where we score early, we go on to win, so getting that early goal settles everybody down."

Rob Hendry