Bromley captain Jack Holland: Everyone will have an incentive to want to win and it’s a case of we’ve done it once, let’s make sure we come up here and make sure that we get the job done!

BROMLEY manager Neil Smith says he is expecting a tough game against basement side Guiseley at Hayes Lane tomorrow.

The Ravens make a welcomed return to Vanarama National League action sitting in tenth-place in the table with 52 points from 34 games, while Guiseley come to Kent sitting on 25 points from 35 games and are 11 points adrift of safety.

“Again, it’s going to be a tough one.  They do want to win, they want to beat us and stay in the division,” said Smith, whose side are now eight points adrift of the play-offs but with games in hand.

“We haven’t played for a little while and we have to find our feet again very quickly so we’ve prepared for it and we know it’s going to be tough but we’ve got our own agenda and we have to make sure we focus on that and not anybody else.”

With right-back Luke Woolfenden staying at Bromley until the end of the season after extending his loan spell from Championship side Ipswich Town, Smith revealed some good news on former Tranmere Rovers winger Adam Mekki.

“He’s fully fit.  He was never going to play on Tuesday night because he never done enough minutes.  He stayed back down at Hayes Lane and he’s had a whole days training with (coach) Ben May.

“Hopefully I’ve got a full squad to pick from. I’ve got very good players’ and any one of them could start.

“But there will be a couple of players’ that won’t even be on the bench. That’s what I need.  I need that competition, especially going into the last 12 games of the season.”

Bromley made the trip to Spennymoor Town on Tuesday, only for the game to be postponed by match referee Karl Evans 75 minutes before kick-off owing to an unplayable pitch.

The Ravens will return to The Brewery Field next Tuesday, 13 March knowing a win up in County Durham will set-up a two-legged FA Trophy Semi-Final showdown against their Vanarama National League rivals Gateshead.

The first leg is scheduled to be played at Hayes Lane on Saturday 17 March, before returning to the North East to play the winner-takes-all second leg seven days later.

Bromley captain Jack Holland said: “It’s nice to know who our opponents will be. We’ve got a job to do against Spennymoor and we’ll have one eye on who we have next, but we’ll know we still got a job to do and that’s the main thing for us.”

Tuesday night’s events up in County Durham will give Bromley’s players extra incentive to beat their Vanarama National League North hosts Spennymoor Town and keep their Wembley dream alive.

Central defender Holland said: “Travelling up here on a Tuesday, getting up here and having it called off,  I think everyone will have an incentive to want to win and it’s a case of we’ve done it once, let’s make sure we come up here and make sure that we get the job done!

“It will be another professional job and hopefully we can do it.”

If Smith’s men can get past Spennymoor, they will lose Saturday League games against Dagenham & Redbridge and Hartlepool United. 

“It will be busier than we thought it would be but it’s nothing to be disheartened about,” said Holland, who won’t be playing Barrow at Hayes Lane next Tuesday due to the Spennymoor trip.

“If we get on a good run in those run of games it will be very beneficial to us and we’ll get on with it and come to each game preparing the best we can prepare.

“It’s the business end of the season and we want to finish as strong as we can, so it will be in every players’ minds that we’ve got a tough run-in.

“We know that week-in-week-out every game is a big game, we know that.  We haven’t only got a job to do in the cup, we’ve got a job to do in the league to finish where we want to finish, which is in the play-off places.

“Guiseley are fighting for their lives and we know it’s going to be a tough game but we have to do a professional job that we know we can do and we’ll get the win.”

When asked if he could win promotion to League Two via the play-offs, get to The FA Trophy Final or win it at Wembley Stadium on 20 May, Holland replied: “All three, if I could, for me if I can’t choose all three, it will be winning promotion, 100% that’s it!  But even if the Final was played at a neutral venue I would 100% take it. 

“I’ve said it before, my ambition is to lead this club in to the Football League and I believe we’ll do it. If it was this year I would 100% take it over than anything else.”

Bromley’s sponsors have all come together to offer free coach travel up to Spennymoor next Tuesday, with two coaches leaving Hayes Lane at 10:00.

A club statement said: “This afternoon the club were informed by The FA that they have received written assurances from Spennymoor Town regarding the rearranged match on Tuesday. These written assurances include that work is being undertaken on the affected areas, including an attempt to drain the pitch, and that the pitch shall be covered to prevent further damage.

“The FA will be monitoring the situation, and the weather forecast, and have requested regular updates from Spennymoor Town.

“Further to this, The FA have arranged for a pitch inspection to be undertaken at 12.30pm on Monday. Following this inspection on behalf of The FA a decision shall be made with regards to the match.”

The statement added: “Six local businesses have joined forces to provide free return travel for supporters wanting to go to the rearranged FA Trophy Quarter-Final Replay against Spennymoor on Tuesday evening.

“But thanks to this gesture from some leading local businesses, fans can travel to the rearranged game without being further out of pocket.”

Fans can visit www.bromleyfc.tv and register for the trip and the club will be giving priority to those fans – around 30 - who made the original trip.

Chairman Jerry Dolke said: “This is an amazing gesture from some great local businesses.

“It was a long trip for our fans, many of whom had taken time off work, only to find they’d travelled for nothing. Now hopefully they’ll be able to go again and get to see a game this time.

“And now a few more who couldn’t make it first time will be able to join us now thanks to this offer of free travel. It could be a memorable night.”

Fans who want to book more than one seat should email Jeff Hutton at jeff@bromleyfc.co.uk, otherwise fill in the form on the club website.

Visit Bromley’s website: www.bromleyfc.tv

Bromley  v  Guiseley
Vanarama National League
Saturday 10 March 2018
Kick Off 3:00pm
at Hayes Lane, Bromley, Kent BR2 9EF