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Dartford host Whitehawk in one of the ties of the FA Trophy third qualifying round at Princes Park

Princes Park hosts one of the ties of the round in the FA Trophy on Saturday when Dartford clash with FA Cup giantkillers Whitehawk.

Eight days before their televised second-round date at Dagenham & Redbridge, the Hawks stand between Darts and a sixth successive appearance in the Trophy first round proper.

Dartford are eight points behind Whitehawk in National League South with two games in hand, so anything could happen this weekend.

Dartford manager Tony Burman Picture: Andy Payton
Dartford manager Tony Burman Picture: Andy Payton

"It’s going to be a tough game," said Dartford manager Tony Burman.

"Whitehawk are a good side, I’ve seen them play and they like to go forward and score goals.

"They’ve been playing well for a few seasons under Steve King.

"They’ve done exceptionally well in the FA Cup and I congratulate them because reaching the second round is a fantastic achievement.

"But we want to progress to the next round of the Trophy, so we need to put a positive performance in and keep things going like they have been."

Dartford are on a six-match unbeaten run in all competitions, although they’ve been starved of action recently.

Since their home win over Hayes & Yeading on October 31, Burman’s side have only played two games in 27 days – and one of those was a Kent Senior Cup tie against Gillingham.

Burman said: "It’s been a strange month, November. We’ve had one league game and that’s all we’re going to play.

"We had one game called off because Basingstoke were in the FA Cup and then we had another game called off last weekend (Maidenhead away), which I think was wrong.

"It’s not great but we’ve got to get on with it.

"We’re playing reasonably well and things have started to go right for us. We’ve got to keep that momentum going and the players have started to believe."

Read the full story in the Dartford Messenger.

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