We've had turmoil at the club with a loss of a sponsor, says Thamesmead Town boss Keith McMahon

THAMESMEAD TOWN manager Keith McMahon says the club need a run in The FA Trophy this season.

The Mead travel to Leighton Buzzard on Sunday to lock horns with Aylesbury United in the Preliminary Round.

McMahon’s men sit in thirteenth-place in the Ryman League Division One North table with 22 points from 15 games.

The Ducks, meanwhile, play at the same level, and sit in eleventh-place in the Southern League Division One Central table with 17 points from 13 games.

“I think it’s going to be a difficult game.  They’re doing quite well in the league so I’m expecting a tough game away from home,” said McMahon.

“It’s a bit of a journey for us. We’re not used to playing on Sundays, which will make a bit of a difference to us. I’m expecting a tough game.”

McMahon revealed the club is once again suffering from financial problems at Bayliss Avenue and the £2,500 prize money will be welcomed.

“We’ve had a little bit of turmoil at the club with finances with a loss of a sponsor that we’re trying to sort out,” said McMahon.

“Yes, (the prize money), is massive for us at the moment.  We didn’t do well in The FA Cup so we do need to get some money into the club funds so it’s a way that we can do it.

“The lads know this time as well. I’m sure if we do put a good performance in we’ll get a result – a draw wouldn’t be a bad result to bring them back home on Tuesday.

“We are looking to get through a few rounds in it. It will help and take a lot of pressure off the club.

“It’s difficult. Me and Paul (Bowden-Brown) are funding it. We lost our main sponsors, we’re sorting out some things.  We’re working to try to get some money in.

“We’ve got no income coming in. We don’t run the club anymore. Our gates aren’t big so it’s tough times. We’re trying to keep the club afloat, which we are doing. It’s a lot of hard work with myself and Paul trying to do that so it’s difficult times.

“We’ve been up front and honest with the players and they all know what’s going on.  To be fair they’ve stuck to it and committed themselves to the club and a run in The FA Trophy will ease a little bit of pressure of people as well.

“It will be nice to get a run and go through a few rounds.”

Reflecting on the club’s league position, McMahon added: “It’s only one or two games out of the 15-16 that we’ve played that we haven’t done well in and we could have done a bit better in some of the others.

“We’re still hanging in there. We need to get a few wins together and we’ll be pushing towards the play-off positions so I say we could do better but it’s not been that bad.

Meanwhile, the club have unveiled the arrival of striker Rowan Liburd on a three-month loan deal from Ryman Premier League club Billericay Town.

“He’s a decent lad. He was on trial at Southend at the beginning of the season and he broke his wrist,” said McMahon.

“He’s with us for a while and help us score some goals and push us forward.

“I’m looking for one or two more, a defender and another midfielder. We’re not far away. We’ve had a lot of injuries. We’ve just lost (full-back) Jack Hopkins to another knee injury, I don’t know how long that’s going to be.”

Visit Thamesmead Town’s website: www.thamesmeadtownfc.com  

Aylesbury United  v  Thamesmead Town
The FA Trophy Preliminary Round
Sunday 19^th October 2014
Kick Off 3:00pm
at Bell Close, Lake Street, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire LU7 1RX