SATURDAY'S FA Cup opponents are the kind of team Stourport Swifts will have an uphill battle against, according to assistant boss Gary Whild.

Promotion-chasing Dr Martens Western Division Solihull Borough visit Walshes Meadow on Saturday in the second qualifying round with Whild admitting it could be a struggle.

Swifts, hit by a player shortage, are still without suspended trio Quentin Townsend, Steve Ulfig and Anthony Davies.

Simon Marsh is on holiday and Tim Langford has hamstring trouble, while Brendan Hackett was in hospital for checks on a mystery illness and Dave Davies has also been unwell.

The problems led to a first start of the season for Paul Mountford, who is busy training to be an accountant, in Tuesday's 3-0 defeat at Halesowen Town.

Whild confessed Halesowen and Solihull are among the teams that Swifts will be hard pressed to compete with.

He said: "Teams like these and Clevedon are looking, like we were last year, to get out of their league and move on.

"At the moment, we're nowhere near that. These clubs who are used to winning and have the ambition are difficult to keep up with.

"For example, Halesowen have a full-time manager, probably pay their players two or three times more than us and have 500 to 600 watching.

"Unfortunately, we've got to come to terms with that. It was certainly a learning curve on Tuesday night and you can learn more from one defeat than from winning games."

However, Swifts, who welcome back Ross Knight from a holiday, are chasing another £7,500 if they can beat Solihull.

And Whild declared: "But at least we can see people are appreciating what we have achieved and that we are moving in the right direction.

"We've gone from the Banks's League to the Dr Martens in a quick time. The ambition's always been there but all of a sudden we have to sit back and take a look."