Tremaine Stewart has shown much promise over the last two years. Playing for Eltham in the Manning Cup, the midfielder captained the team to a Walker Cup title and a semi-final berth in the Manning Cup, feats that were particularly impressive given the fact his team had only been a part of schoolboy football’s flagship competitions for two years.

Even at that time, fans at August Town were already very impressed with what they saw from the youngster and soon enough, Stewart began to show so much potential he earned games in the senior team, which in their first year of top-flight football, were incredible.

Playing central midfield is a ‘big man’s’ job. And when I say that I’m not necessarily talking about size but the mental capacity for the position. As every serious football watcher will agree, that position is the one that controls the game. The pace, the amount of possession your team has, and how many chances your attackers are able to muster, all come down to how well your central midfielder or midfielders play.

As a schoolboy, Stewart seemed to have an unusual grasp of all these aspects of the game, however, a persistent knee injury kept hampering his progress. He is still not over that woe yet, and even more important than that, his ability to achieve the same things he did at the schoolboy level in the Premier League has not been forthcoming this season.

As a matter of fact, I would go as far as to say, August Town’s problems this season can be attributed to the fact that Stewart is not playing as well as we know he can.

It is the hope that when the fourth round begins, Stewart will find his confidence, because that seems to be a major concern for the youngster at this point. If this happens, then there is no doubt August Town’s performances will improve.

What is good for August Town is the fact that, while they lie squarely at the foot of the table, they are only five points away from finding themselves as high up as eighth in the League.

I would certainly want to see August Town remain in top-flight football because if they are relegated, a player with the ability that Stewart has shown might be tempted to ply his trade somewhere else.

The loss to August Town could be tremendous and with their financial state, they must find it hard enough to keep players anyway.

What makes Stewart a good player? The midfielder has very good control and an awareness of where his players are on the field. His ability to pick out players with the long ball is also impressive and his short passing is snappy and inventive. But what does the young man need to learn? Stewart, at this point in his career needs to do the simple things. Many times, a player blessed with close control and good passing skill will tend to overdo it by trying to make the final pass more often than they should, ignoring the simpler one. Confidence in your ability to keep the ball will also make matters worse and young Stewart still has these things to learn.