Our players must be prepared to go out and give optimum effort levels at all times, says Welling Town boss Danny Wakeling

WELLING TOWN manager Danny Wakeling says he is looking forward to a good old fashioned cup tie against rivals Erith & Belvedere tomorrow.

The two sides lock horns in The Buildbase FA Vase First Round at Bayliss Avenue tomorrow, a day after Sporting Club Thamesmead were thrashed 5-1 by Ascot United on Friday night.

Wakeling has guided the Boots to fifth-place in the Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division table, having banked 17 points from their nine games.

Erith & Belvedere celebrated winning promotion after finishing runners-up to Welling Town in the First Division last term and the Deres are currently in thirteenth-place in the pecking order with 10 points from as many games.

Welling Town came away from AFC Croydon Athletic with a 1-0 win last Saturday.

“We are on a good run at present but we had a slight warning by dropping off our levels by 10-15% last week despite getting the win,” said Wakeling.

“We can’t and won’t let that happen! Our players must be prepared to go out and give optimum effort levels at all times as that’s what has got us going at present.

“We haven’t been gifted anything in any games so far. We have had to start fast and maintain high effort levels at all times to earn what we have over the last eight games.

“The players have been told this too and we expect to see a very, very solid reaction from a very, very talented group of players tomorrow.

“Picking an 18 was incredibly difficult which is testament to the squad. Training was good last night and we are almost at full health so competition for places has just gone up another level, which is fantastic.

“I’m looking forward to locking horns with Erith & Belvedere. It’s a big name at these levels so they’ve got that status to live up to.

“I’m on very good terms with Owen Jones, their manager and I’ve had the pleasure of managing several of their players before. In fact there could be as many as seven ex Bromleians on the pitch across both sides tomorrow, which is a testament to that squad, which won back-to-back titles in the Kent County League and also indictive of the talent pool that plays in that League too.

“I’ve always championed players in that League and known that given a chance that they can play a lot higher up.

“Having said that, all of that goes out of the window tomorrow afternoon, it doesn’t mean a thing!

“I know that they’ll want from the game and I know full well that we want and what we expect of our players to deliver.

“I’m looking forward to it and hopeful of a good crowd on Non-League Day that’ll witness a good old fashioned cup tie with loads of tenacity and plenty of talent too.”

Visit Welling Town’s website: www.wellingtown.co.uk

Welling Town v  Erith & Belvedere
The Buildbase FA Vase First Round
Saturday 12 October 2019
Kick Off 3:00pm
at Bayliss Avenue, Thamesmead, London SE28 8NJ