Worksop Town assistant Craig Rouse says side must stick to game plan

Worksop travel to Leicester in the Preliminary Round of the FA Cup after Anstey beat Sleaford Town 3-0 in the Extra Preliminary Round of the competition.

Rouse has stated that he thinks that the side is ready for the challenge in Craig Parry’s first competitive game in charge of the Tigers.

“We are all excited for it; we are all ready for the game and as long as we put into practice to what we have done throughout the friendlies, then we should be able to go on and pick up a result,” said Rouse.

“Sometimes cups are used to rotate teams, in the county cups especially, but they are not happening this year so the FA Cup and FA Trophy competitions will be our target; not only for the prestige of the competitions but for the finances for the club.

“Every club will be wanting to go on a cup run, so there will be no excuses from us if things are not done right.

“We went and watched them on Saturday and we expect them to be tough opposition; we have to travel there and go onto their patch and implement our style to the game, so for us, it will be a tough game.

“We need to implement our style and do what we want to do. We need to work harder than the opposition and be confident that we can shine through.”

Worksop come into the game on the back of an impressive 4-1 away victory over Hemsworth Miners Welfare on Tuesday night.

Rouse admitted that Worksop are almost at a good match sharpness after a prolonged time away from competitive action.

Rouse added: “I think the further and further that you get into pre-season, you can see that the lads are getting fitter and getting back up to match speed.

“I think sometimes as a management team you can expect things too soon and you want to see players hit the ground running, but it has been a big offseason.

“It has been five months since they all competitively played, so it was always going to take a while to get back up to speed and I think we are just about there.”