Whelan wants measured approach from Gateshead as FA Cup replay lies in wait

Gateshead midfielder Callum Whelan has called for a measured approach as his side prepare to host Hednesford Town in an FA Cup fourth qualifying round replay on Tuesday night.

With interim management team Ben Clark, Jacob Butterfield, Greg Olley and Luke Clark in charge once again, the Heed battled to a 1-1 draw at Keys Park, home of the Northern Premier League West Division outfit in front of the BBC cameras on Saturday afternoon. That ensured both sides took their place in Monday’s first round draw and now know the winners of Tuesday’s replay will have a home tie against either Gainsborough Trinity or Boston United as a reward for a win at the International Stadium.

Despite a number of below-par performances in recent weeks, Whelan believes everyone connected with Gateshead must remain focused as they look to move on from what has been an eventful opening two months to the season.

He told The Echo: “We have set high standards with the way we ended last season and the way we started this season. Sometimes you can get bogged down with some bad results when it’s not really the end of the world. We are still young, still learning and still looking to improve. The saying is never too high, never too low - and that’s not always an easy thing to do but if we can master that we can smash it. We try hard to be that and we spoke as players saying we’ve been through a lot so far this season and with smoother few months ahead we will be fine.”

Gateshead’s playing squad find themselves in a similar position to this time last year as they await a permanent successor to a departed management team. Twelve months ago, it was Mike Williamson, Ian Watson and Chris Bell who departed the club to join League Two club MK Dons. Former Newcastle United goalkeeper Rob Elliot fronted up an interim management team with Louis Storey following their departure and the duo were joined by Hartlepool United legend Antony Sweeney during the summer. However, Elliot, Storey and Sweeney were tempted away by an offer from League One strugglers Crawley Town earlier this month and Whelan admitted, after seeing several managers sacked earlier in his career, seeing a management team move on after a successful spell has been a somewhat new experience.

He said: “The transition was smoother last year because Rob and Louis were helping Mike and Busted (Ian Watson). This time it is different and like you said, Butts and Greg said they’re players and they want to play. But they’ve been excellent in the way they’ve stepped up, it’s been amazing, full credit and as a player you can ask more of them with the detail they’ve gone into. Managers have gone on to do good things and have gone higher and I’ve seen a few sackings in my time so this is a weird one but that’s what comes with being here, it’s been a special couple of years and we just have to accept people have moved on.”