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Guiseley AFC: Kittrick calls on players to prove they are Conference class
INJURED: Gavin Rothery.
Boss Steve Kittrick has challenged his Guiseley players to prove they are Conference class by coming through tonight’s eagerly-awaited FA Trophy tie at Cambridge United unscathed.
After three postponements the last-16 fixture will finally go ahead this evening and the Lions will approach the clash full of confidence following Saturday’s 1-0 success at Hinckley in Blue Square North.
That victory left Guiseley just nine points behind leaders Hyde with three games in hand and Kittrick knows if all goes swimmingly, teams like Cambridge will be opponents a regular basis.
“If we want to play in the Conference then this is the level that we’ve got to aspire to,” he declared.
“They are tenth in their league, we have had them watched and they like to play decent football, the same as we do.
“They have got some young players and they look like a good Conference side, so this will be a good marker as to where we are and where we need to be, if we did go up, next season.
“We are looking forward to it, but we know it will be a difficult test.”
Both teams returned to action after lengthy lay-offs at the weekend but whereas a Simon Baldry strike earned the Lions success at Hinckley, Cambridge were felled 1-0 by leaders Fleetwood Town.
Kittrick, though, has warned his side about getting carried away.
“We’re going in confident, but not over-confident, and we’ve just got to go and express ourselves and play some decent football,” he said.
“I just want us to put in a good, honest shift and one thing I know is that our lads will be 100 per cent committed to Guiseley.
Incentive
“Cambridge are like us in that they are a couple of games behind with their league programme, but they’ll be looking to bounce back from losing on Saturday.
“That’s the way their manager will be packaging it – that they can bounce back by getting into the last eight of the Trophy.
“We had a good win on Saturday and we have played teams from the Conference away before in this competition so hopefully we will give another good account of ourselves.”
The prize for progression to the quarters is £7,000 – plus a home tie against either Blue Square South high-fliers Dartford or Isthmian League outfit Wealdstone who also play this evening.
To Kittrick, though, the ultimate incentive is getting one step closer to gracing England’s biggest stage of all.
“You are only three games away from Wembley, but the only thing I’m thinking about is the Cambridge game. That’s it.
“If we are fortunate enough to get through then we will look at who we have got then.”
Gavin Rothery is Guiseley’s only injury absentee tonight, the broken-toe victim around three weeks away from a return.
Also in action this evening are Guiseley’s Blue Square North promotion rivals FC Halifax Town who host fellow high-fliers Nuneaton in a game which pits second against fourth.
The two sides then meet again on Saturday in the league at Liberty Way and Neil Aspin’s men will be looking to bounce back from Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Eastwood Town in which they led 2-0.
In the Evo-Stik League, Ossett Town visit Radcliffe Borough in First Division North, while North Ferriby United welcome Matlock Town in the Premier Division – both are clashes between teams in the bottom half of their respective divisions.
In the Northern Counties East League, 15th-placed Nostell Miners Welfare welcome third-bottom Lincoln Moorlands Railway in the Premier Division.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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