Nostell bowed out of the cup in the preliminary round on Tuesday night, though not before taking UniBond League side Warrington to a replay following a goalless draw last weekend and then giving them a real scare in the re-match before succumbing 2-1 to an 88th-minute strike.

And Colquhoun believes if the Miners can reach the same levels tomorrow, it will put them in with a shout of registering their first Northern Counties East League Premier Division win of the campaign when Hallam visit town.

Colquhoun said: "It has been a disappointing start to the season league-wise, but in the two rounds of the FA Cup we have done well.

"We beat Winsford away and then, to be fair, in the game at Warrington last Saturday we missed our chance. We should have won.

"But they were very good on Tuesday, they played like a proper UniBond League side, and to lose to a goal two minutes from time hurts.

"But we competed with them and their manager was full of compliments afterwards, which was nice to hear, and we just have to transfer it now into our league form.

"It is still very early days but we need a good result against Hallam at home this weekend and then we will be up and running."

Nostell defied the odds to finish in fifth place in their first season in the top-flight last time round after winning promotion from Division One in their inaugural season in the NCE League.

But Colquhoun believes they were benefiting from the fact they were literally a "surprise" package and now they are paying the price of success, with their only point so far coming from a 1-1 draw with Arnold on the opening day.

He said: "We have gone from having about 16 to 17 players up to 21 so we have a better squad than last year, we have just struggled to score goals. I think it's because teams know a little bit about us now, whereas last year they didn't know what to expect.

"Everyone is giving us an awful lot more respect now, and they are trying that bit harder against us because we finished fifth last season.

"Parkgate and Pickering came to Nostell and beat us and went away celebrating like they had won a cup final.

"It is going to be a lot harder this season, but we should be okay. Our aim is just to consolidate in the Premier Division and have a couple of good cup runs and I am confident we can do that."

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