Farsley Celtic are aiming for FA Trophy giant killing

For Adam Lakeland’s side, this is a welcome distraction following a poor run of results in the National League North. Consecutive defeats to local rivals Guiseley were followed by a 1-0 loss to relegation-threatened Kettering Town; a result which saw the West Yorkshire outfit drop to seventh in the standings.

Following on from that latest defeat, Lakeland said: “We created a few opportunities of our own as the second half went on but in the end, it would have been a complete smash and grab if we managed to conjure a point somehow. We deserved to get beaten but we’ll draw a line under it and move on.

“I’m not going to stand and be too critical and rant and rave at them [the players] because we were 1/50 favourites to go down and we’ve been in the play-offs pretty much all season. We’ve got plenty of points on the board and we’re massively continuing to punch above our weight.”

Tomorrow’s opponents, Barnet, are currently 11th in the National League table and are on a seven-match unbeaten run in all competitions. However, three of their latest games all ended in draws; two of which were goalless.

Looking ahead to the game, Lakeland said: “We’ve got a great opportunity to bounce back in a massive game. It’s been a gruelling period for us with a lot of games in a short space of time which has tested our small squad.”

Farsley reached this stage of the competition thanks to an extra time 2-1 win over Altrincham in the first round replay. Earlier on in the qualifying round, Farsley got the better of Workington following a narrow 1-0 victory away from home.

Despite taking on a team in the division above them, Lakeland admitted the aim is to progress.

He said: “There’s no pressure on us. We put in two unbelievable shifts against Altrincham to get into this round and now we have the chance to test ourselves against a team from a higher level.

“This is a big game for the club and it’s one that we’ve got to enjoy but we’ll enjoy it a lot more if we can give a good account of ourselves and progress – which is ultimately what we aim to do.

“We know it’s going to be very difficult. We’re massive underdogs but we’ve been underdogs for a long time and we’ve managed to win lots of games and upset many teams and many people.”

Elsewhere, Guiseley will be in league action when they travel to an in-form Altrincham side. The Lions were on the climb in the National League North table thanks to a run of three straight victories however, that streak came to end when Marcus Bignot’s side lost 1-0 at home to promotion-chasing Chester last weekend.

Altrincham may only be a point above Guiseley but they’ll head into tomorrow’s game as the big favourites having won five games on the spin. What’s more, the Robins boast the third best home record in the division with eight wins from 11 games.

With only three points separating 11th-placed Guiseley and fifth-placed Boston United, the Lions could potentially end the weekend inside the play-off places.

Meanwhile, bottom-of-the-table Bradford Park Avenue will travel to Hereford as they search for only their fourth win of the season.