Llangefni Town host St Asaph City in Round Five of the FAW Trophy this weekend, manager Chris Roberts give us pre-match thoughts as his side look to go into the next round.
With St Asaph playing in the same division as Llangefni, some might say it comes as an advantage knowing your opponents but Roberts says otherwise.
“I wouldn’t say it gives us an advantage as such especially given that St Asaph have a new manager in Chris Morrell who has now put his own stamp on the team.
We know Chris was at our match against Abergele on Friday and stayed for the whole match, so our approach to the game has changed slightly, we expect a tough match and preparation has gone well this week. The lads have worked hard in training and we look forward to the match on Saturday.”
Craig Roberts and Craig Evans have been performing exceptionally well for Llangefni this season, with Roberts singing their praises.
“The stats this year are very impressive especially given that both have them have missed a few matches due to work and other commitments. I feel the squad is the strongest it has been all season with many players back from injuries and suspension which is a big plus and gives me a nice headache of choosing the team for Saturday’s cup match.”
In cup competitions, some view playing at home as an advantage as your support outnumbers theirs and usually that can spurn the team on, Roberts feels the PYS(The Llangefni fans) could spur his side to victory.
“We always say prior to any cup draw that we will take any team at home, we enjoy playing in front of our home supporters they really can be the twelfth man at times. We played Caernarfon at home in the Welsh Cup, where we drew the match 4-4, our fans “The PYS” were fantastic that day and really got behind the team, so I think playing at home can give you a slight advantage.”
Last time Llangefni played St Asaph they lost 3-0, with Roberts mentioning how that loss contributed in Llangefni not gaining promotion last season.
“I honestly believe that losing that game 3-0 away towards the end of last season along with the Barmouth loss was where it all went wrong for us in our quest for promotion last season, and that still hurts today.
We know that it won’t be easy on Saturday and that we will need to be at our best to beat a strong St Asaph side to progress into the Quarter Finals of the Welsh Trophy.”
Roberts also assessed his sides performance in all competitions this season.
“We have done well in the Welsh Cup and Welsh Trophy this season but now it has left us with games in hand on the other teams in the division that we would much prefer to have points on the board.
We have dropped points in games we shouldn’t have this season, loosing to Llanberis at the beginning of the season and drawing away to Llandyrnog when we hit the woodwork 3 times stand out, but this really shows the quality and how strong a division it is this year where every team is beating each other.
“We are doing well and I am pleased with how the season has started as a whole. People tend to forget that we don’t pay our players and therefore can’t compete with some of the other teams in the division but I think that this is one of the factors that we do so well, the players we have want to play for the Llangefni Town badge.”
Kick Off at Talwrn Road is at 14:00.
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