FA Cup: Easington Colliery boss senses 'mentality shift' ahead of cup tie

Easington Colliery manager Olly Hotchkiss has insisted his players will remain grounded despite making an impressive start to the new season.

The Colliers will head into Saturday’s FA Cup preliminary round tie at Northern Counties East League club Knaresborough Town looking to extend an unbeaten run that now consists of eight games in all competitions. A win in North Yorkshire could also see Easington reach the first qualifying round of the competition for the first time since 2002 and would boost the coffers with around £1,444 in prize money.

With confidence clearly high on the back of a stunning 4-1 win at Northern League Division One rivals Kendal Town in midweek, Hotchkiss believes his players have produced a ‘mentality shift’ in away games - but stressed nobody will be getting too carried away ahead of Saturday’s cup tie.

He told The Echo: “We have worked really hard in pre-season to get the right players and the right balance in the players - and we found out we weren’t where we wanted to be early in pre-season. So we have worked hard to get to this point - but I said to the lads after the game that if you look at a league table after six games and think it means anything, you’re not a real football person. Yes, we are at the right end of the table but there are more than 30 games left to play and we are a very realistic group.

“We haven’t always travelled well during my time here but we have six points out of six in the league and there has been a bit of a mentality shift. However, this is a tough tie. We are lucky they’ve played two Northern League clubs this season so we will speak to them and see what we can do. We are full of confidence - but we will keep our feet on the ground.”

Fixtures

Friday: Redcar Town v Bridlington Town Saturday: Ashington v Thornaby, Kendal Town v Heaton Stannington, Blyth Spartans v Morpeth Town, West Auckland Town v Shildon AFC, Consett v Marske United, Crook Town v Bishop Auckland, Knaresborough Town v Easington Colliery, Carlisle City v Dunston

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