Chatham will undoubtedly be the favourites for the tie and everyone outside of our changing room will be expecting them to qualify for the last 16, says Corinthian boss Michael Golding

CORINTHIAN manager Michael Golding says the pressure and expectation are not on his side when they travel to their promotion rivals Chatham Town in The Buildbase FA Vase tomorrow.

Beckenham Town sit at the top of the Sea Pioneer Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division table with 46 points from their 20 league games.

Corinthian are in second-place in the pecking order with 43 points from 21 games, followed by third-placed Sheppey United with 42 points from 20 games and Chatham Town are in fourth-place with 40 points from their 21 league outings.

“We are looking forward to tomorrow’s match and have prepared fully this week in training for the tough challenge that lies ahead against a strong Chatham side, but one we are excited to get underway and pit ourselves against a very good footballing side,” said Golding.

“Playing a side from our own league at the time of the draw was disappointing, but what it has done is allow us to treat this like every other game with play against Southern Counties East Football League sides in our league campaign, so there has been a normality to our preparations and the players routines will be the same as they are every other week which is important.

“Chatham will undoubtedly be the favourites for the tie and everyone outside of our changing room will be expecting them to qualify for the last 16.

“Many people are comparing Chatham to the Cray Valley side of last year, that were heavy outsiders with the bookmakers, but fancied by many to go deep into the competition, this is a pressure and expectation that is clearly not on us, so hopefully it will allow us to go and play with a freedom and execute our game plan.

“Having said this, we come into the game in great form and with a belief and self-confidence that if we turn up on the day and play our game, we will give ourselves the best possible chance of a positive result."

Corinthian welcome Erith Town to Gay Dawn Farm in the Challenge Cup Third Round next Tuesday and next Saturday they have home advantage over First Division high-flyers, Kennington, in the Kent Senior Trophy Quarter-Finals.

Golding said:  “This week as a whole is a massive week for the club, we have three very important cup fixtures and the objective is to still be in all the cups at the end of the week as well as being in touch at the top of the table at the turn of the month.

“The FA Vase is obviously the priority tomorrow, but across the week both the Challenge Cup and Kent Senior Trophy will be treated with the utmost respect and will then become our most important games of the season when they arrive. At this stage of the season, every game should be played with the intensity and desire of a cup final.

“The league is starting to take shape but as we know very well from last year, there is a lot of football still to be played.

“Teams that have gone on good runs recently and seem to now be gaining confidence in their title challenge staying power are spending more money and signing more and more players and this will make the rest of the season incredibly tough for us, but we have probably already exceeded many people’s expectations for us this season, after pretty much being written off as one season wonders.”

Chatham Town  v  Corinthian
The Buildbase FA Vase Fourth Round
Saturday 11 January 2020
Kick Off 3:00pm
at Maidstone Road Sports Ground, Bournville Avenue, Chatham, Kent ME4 6LR