WE'VE enjoyed a terrific FA Cup run this year -- and long may it continue on Saturday.
It promises to be one heck of a match at Chippenham Town and I only hope our supporters are celebrating at the final whistle.
It's a big game for all our players. For a number of the lads, they have not played in a first round tie and I've told them to enjoy it.
Ultimately, we want to win. We've got this far beating Accrington Stanley, so to bow out of the competition would be disappointing.
We realise we are in for a battle. Chippenham are a very strong side, winning every single game at Hardenhuish Park this season.
They are flying high near the top of the Southern League Premier Division and have a very good chance of being in Nationwide North next season.
Andy Morrison watched them beat Rugby Town 4-0 last Saturday. They were lively and worked extremely hard for each other.
They too will fancy their chances, especially at home where they are used to the conditions.
It's a sell-out and I can only imagine the atmosphere will be noisy and hostile. But these are the sort of games that all footballers want to play in.
Our players will respond to the atmosphere and enjoy it.
They will have a few butterflies in the stomach before the game, but that's natural. It is no bad thing.
We all know the importance of the game, but I'm sure once they cross the line on to the pitch, they will keep their nerves under control.
Obviously, we must perform as well as we have done in our last four or five games to be in the hat for the second round.
I'm not sure there will be much room for good football, though. I reckon we'll have to grind out a result, because it is a very tight ground. Jock (Morrison) paced the pitch and didn't think it was very wide.
We are going to have to win the battle. But we can win playing football too, as we've shown in the last couple of games.
It's also nice to travel to Chippenham on the back of another victory. The league is the most important thing for us and it was pleasing to pick up three points against Barrow.
We had a lot of joy from set-pieces and Liam McDonald put some good deliveries into the right areas. Des Lyttle put one away, but we should have scored more.
Justin Thompson and Leon Kelly also had a couple of good opportunities.
To keep another clean sheet was great. We looked solid with Justin, Des and Chris Smith at the back. Goalkeeper Danny McDonnell had one or two saves to make and was there when we needed him.
We need our players to be on top form again.
It would be amazing to get through to the second round. We want to be one of the few non-league sides remaining in the FA Cup. It would bring us a lot of attention, more good Press and keep us on the map.
It would also be great for our fans. We need all the support they can give us. They could make the difference between us being in or out of the cup. So we need them in full voice.
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