The club travel to the Trafalgar Ground in East Sussex to take on Newhaven in the preliminary round of the FA Cup this Saturday (21 August).
And Bulls boss Freeman said his players were aware of the task ahead of them, in what he expected to be a tight and tough affair – the opposite of the 10-1 thrashing they gave Horsham YMCA in the previous round of the cup earlier this month at Springfield.
The Bulls could be playing with a different looking back four this weekend as captain James Quérée is still unavailable and mainstay left-back Jay Giles is doubtful after picking up an injury this week.
However, Freeman said he has confidence in any of his players who comes into fill the void.
‘We have got a really strong bunch of players in the squad and I think anyone can come in and do a job for us. The boys know what is expected of them and know that we demand a certain level of performance from them,’ he said.
‘Everyone has trained really well this week and there is definitely some added excitement among the squad for what is a big game. The FA Cup is a big carrot for us and any player will tell you that they want to do as much as they can to go as far as they can in this competition.’
NEXT GAME | This weekend we are away to face Newhaven FC in the preliminary round of the FA Cup!
Can our squad work their magic? #backthebulls pic.twitter.com/1gPyrZyxuS
— JerseyBullsFC (@JerseyBullsFC) August 17, 2021
If the Bulls are successful this weekend they will then be entered in the first qualifying round, which is due to be played on 4 September.
However, Freeman said his side are just taking the competition round-by-round.
‘We don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves, we have got to focus on this weekend and getting past a strong side, in what I think will be a tight affair,’ he said. ‘We don’t know too much about them but I have heard good things. They have got a potent goalscorer and I think they are going to come out and attack us so we are going to need to be compact. Hopefully this can create some spaces for us to play our game too.’
The Bulls will be confident that they can score some of their own too, with the addition of potent forward Lorne Bickley this season who has notched four goals in his past two games.
The former Kettering Town FC striker is one of a number of new faces in Freeman’s side this year, who has heaped praise on his latest additions.
‘The boys have settled really well in training and made a great impact. Some have probably not had the game time that they would have liked, but they will get there. As the season progresses there is going to be plenty of opportunities to show what they are capable of on the pitch.’
Full squad: Adam Trotter, Euan Van der Vliet, Fraser Barlow, Jack Griffin, Jake Prince, James Carr, Joe Kilshaw, Jonny Le Quesne, Kamen Nafkha, Kieran Lester, Lorne Bickley, Luca Margaroli, Luke Campbell, Ruben Mendes, Sol Solomon.
