JERSEY Bulls’ assistant manager Kevan Nelson admitted he was wary of the threat that Knaphill would provide as his team strive to reach the next round of the FA Cup.
A win for Bulls would put them in the first qualifying round where teams from non-league step three will enter the fray. But the Surrey club is a familiar foe.
Playing in the same Combined Counties Premier Division South, Knaphill took five points from a possible six from the Bulls last season, including a 1-0 win at Springfield.
They return again tomorrow [kick-off 3pm] and Nelson is expecting the visitors to come with the same ‘frustrating’ approach.
‘Knaphill will provide a stern challenge. We weren’t very good against them last season and they deserved their results,’ he said.
‘They’re fairly regimented in their process and I can’t imagine them changing that for the FA Cup. I’m just hopeful that they will come out of their shell a little bit more. They will want to try and avoid us playing in the way that we can.
‘I remember that last season, within the first 15 seconds, the goalkeeper caught the ball, dropped on the floor, rolled around for 25 seconds, got up, did the slowest ever goal kick in the world and that was a sign of things to come. They did enough to win the game but it was frustrating football. I’m hopeful for the fans coming down that it’s a bit more of a spectacle and we’ll certainly try and make it that way.’
Nelson wants to avoid a replay, which would be played away on Tuesday night, having already had a midweek replay in the last round against Sittingbourne. Bulls ran out 2-0 winners at Sittingbourne after a goalless draw in the first match but the Islanders then lost their opening league match of the season, at home, 1-0 to Tooting & Mitcham United.
However, Nelson believes the loss did not follow the familiar pattern of the home defeats, including to Knaphill, that they suffered last season.
‘I think we’ve moved on from there. Last week we played quite well. Tooting were a decent side and we just didn’t take our chances,’ Nelson added.
‘We need to be clinical and that’s the same as last season but, in terms of how we’re playing, I think we’ve certainly moved on a step from last year. It’s just a shame we didn’t get the result to prove that. At home, it’s more about keeping the level of intensity up. I think when you’re playing on our pitch, it can get very dry and hot and that can slow you down. We try to keep possession but we want to do it further up the park. It’s just trying to get into the rights area but we will get more of the right results than we don’t.’
On Tuesday night, the Bulls returned to winning ways with a hard-fought 2-0 win away at Alton in the league.
Bulls’ chances of progressing in the cup on Saturday will not be helped by injuries to captain James Querée and last season’s top scorer, Lorne Bickley, who both miss out, while James Carr and Sammy Sutcliffe are also unavailable having picked up knocks against Tooting. Francis Lekimamati returns after being on holiday, and there are call-ups for Jack Boyle and Robert Martins-Figueira.
Jersey Bulls squad: Euan Van Der Vliet, Robbie Scott, Frank Tobin, Jay Giles, Harry Curtis, Luke Campbell (c), Ben Le Rougetel, Kamen Nafkha, Adam Trotter, Luke Watson, Jack Boyle, Miguel Carvalho, Jake Mulholland, Jonny Le Quesne, Fraser Barlow, Robert Martins-Figueira, Francis Lekimamati.
