I think Bishop’s Stortford will definitely have a tough tie against us, warns Hythe Town assistant manager Will Graham

HYTHE TOWN assistant manager Will Graham says his players’ are expected to play out of their skin against higher-league opposition on Saturday.

The Cannons put in a poor performance last Saturday going down to a crushing 4-0 defeat at Sittingbourne – but they bounced back with a morale-boosting 2-0 win at Herne Bay three days’ later.

It was to be a shock to the system to Graham and manager Clive Cook after putting in such a poor performance at Sittingbourne, especially after ten of their players sent Ryman Premier League side Merstham crashing out of The Buildbase FA Trophy 3-0 in their previous game.

Their reward for that is to host Bishop’s Stortford in the Third Qualifying Round this weekend.

Bishop’s Stortford play two levels higher than Hythe Town but are rooted to the foot of the Vanarama National League South table, with a playing record of three wins and two draws from their 19 league outings.

“You’ll probably see us play out of our skin against them because that’s the way it is at the moment,” admitted Graham.

“We raise our game against the big teams and our attitude against the midtable sides is probably not good enough.

“We watched them (lose 3-0 at home to Dartford) so we’re going to know a little bit about them.

“Some of the players’ we’ve got in our team, not blowing our own trumpet, people will look at the result and not believe it, but we’ve got people who could play National League (South) level, Ryman Prem definitely and it’s just how they turn up and how they impose themselves.

“I think Bishop’s Stortford on Saturday will definitely have a tough tie against us.

“We’ve over excelled in The FA Cup and The Trophy this year.  I think the chairman is very happy with what we’ve brought in in terms of funding.

“It’s a free game for us but it’s a game we definitely believe is winnable and we’re on a little bit of a run in The Trophy so we want to keep it going and see where it takes us.”

Visit Hythe Town’s website: www.hythetownfc.co.uk

Hythe Town  v  Bishop’s Stortford
The Buildbase FA Trophy Third Qualifying Round
Saturday 26^th November 2016
Kick Off 3:00pm
At Reachfields Stadium, Off Fort Road, Hythe, Kent CT21 6JS