FA Trophy Special: Seager asks: Will Brackley take us seriously?

WHITSTABLE TOWN manager Marc Seager hopes Brackley Town underestimates his side when the two sides meet in the first qualifying round of the FA Carlsberg Trophy on Saturday, writes Stephen McCartney.

Brackley Town are a side that are 15^th in the British Gas Business Premier League table with a record of three wins and three draws from ten games.

They have a FA Cup fourth and final qualifying round tie away to Blue Square South side Hampton & Richmond Borough to look forward to next Saturday - with £12,500 of FA prize money up for grabs for the winner, compared to just £2,300 winning this FA Trophy tie.

Seager, speaking to www.kentishfootball.co.uk following tonight’s training session, hopes Brackley drop their professionalism when they play his side.

An example of this, here in Kent, are Maidstone United. The Stones welcome Blue Square South side AFC Wimbledon in the FA Cup next weekend and were criticised by both Lloyd Hume and Alan Walker following their poor display away to Horsham last night, going down 3-1.

Seager hopes Brackley will have one eye on their trip to The Beveree and slip up here in Kent.

“There’s a lot of money for next week’s game (up for grabs for the winner). I don’t know what their financial situation is but they might see next week’s game bigger than ours. As we’re a league below they might think we’re a bit of an easy game for them,” said Seager.

“They’ve had a bit of inconsistent league form but you can’t say that about their cup form.

“They’ve been excellent in the cups, made it through to the fourth qualifying round and an away tie at Hampton, looking to get a result there to get into the first round proper (of the FA Cup).

“They like to get the ball down and pass. People say they don’t travel too well, but that doesn’t seem to be a problem this season.

Kingstonian, the Ryman League Division One South leaders, unbeaten at the time, let complacency slip into their ranks and were on the end of a 3-2 home defeat to the Oystemen in the preliminary round.

“One thing we seem to do at Whitstable is raise ourselves for the big games,” said Seager.

“We’ve proved that in the past with the Dover games last year and Margate in the FA Cup (the season before).

“We’ve come into this with an away win at Kingstonian. It’s an opportunity for us as well. We’re the underdogs, they’re in a strong league, some say it’s stronger than the Ryman Premier.

“But we’re going to be up for it. I’ve done my homework and if we can play to our full potential, with a bit of lady luck, cup football has a way of upsetting the odds.”

But how can Whitstable win on Kingstonian’s own patch, but lose to the likes of Chipstead, Burgess Hill Town and Eastbourne Town, in the league, for example.

“We defeated a very strong Kingstonian side and again it just cements the fact (that) if we can play to our full potential, we are good enough to beat anyone,” explained Seager.

“But the reason why we’re struggling in league form and Kingstonian aren’t (is that) they do it week in week out and we don’t.

“What we’re striving and I’m working to try and get (is) a bit of consistency in my team.”

The Whitstable boss confirmed that left-back, Danny Tipple has been added to the injury list, with a shin injury that he picked up in midweek.

Paul Ainsworth (knee), James Campbell (groin), Marcos Perona (back) and Dave Cory (calf) have also been ruled out.

On when these players are expected back, Seager replied: “Dave Cory’s going to be 4-5 weeks, Paul and James will be another week and Marcos, he could be 2-4 weeks.”

Visit Whitstable Town’s website: www.whitstabletownfc.co.uk

Whitstable Town v Brackley Town
FA Carlsberg Trophy First Qualifying Round
Saturday 18^th October 2008
Kick Off 3:00pm
At The Belmont, Belmont Road, Whitstable, Kent CT5 1QP