Maidstone United boss Jay Saunders calls for a big turnout for FA Trophy clash against Whitehawk
By Craig Tucker
Jay Saunders has called for a full house at the Gallagher
Stadium to help Maidstone cause an FA Trophy upset.
United take on second-placed Ryman League, Premier Division
Whitehawk in the third qualifying round on Saturday.
Boss Saunders (pictured) makes the visitors favourites against
his Ryman League, Division 1 South leaders but believes home
advantage could swing the tie Maidstone’s way.
He said: "We were worthy winners at Margate in the first
qualifying round, so we’ve shown we are capable of beating Premier
Division teams but we definitely start underdogs against a side
with a lot of good players.
"It will be tough but I’d like to think we can get close to
2,000 people in and, with the crowd behind us, we have a
chance.
"We’ve done our homework on Whitehawk and had them watched a
couple of times. As much as we want to nullify their strengths, we
also have to think how we can hurt them by doing the things we’re
good at. It’s all about what happens on the day."
The biggest decision facing the Stones boss is whether to start
with leading scorer Paul Booth or restore in-form Ian Draycott to
the team after leaving him out of the goalless draw at Crawley Down
on Tuesday night.
Deren Ibrahim is set to continue in goal ahead of Charlie Mitten
after back-to-back clean sheets, while Tim Olorunda is expected to
keep Danny Lye out of the side in midfield.
08/11/12
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