Ashford Town hope put their indifferent league form to one side this Saturday when they travel to Great Wakering Rovers in the Preliminary Round of the FA Trophy.

Their Essex opponents sit 15th in Ryman League Division 1 North, but Nuts and Bolts manager Steve Lovell is under no illusions about the task that awaits his charges.

“They’ll be a tough, physical side,” Lovell acknowledged. “They haven’t had the best of starts in their league, but at the moment we seem to play well against the better sides and not so well against the weaker ones.

“I believe we can have a good run in the competition though, if we play as well as we do 90 percent of the time. If we continue to make silly errors then we won’t get anywhere.”

Lovell admitted he may make changes for the tie, in the wake of Tuesday night’s defeat at home to Chipstead. A defeat that left the manager thoroughly frustrated.

“We performed well on Tuesday, and but for a mad 10 minutes, we would have won the game,” he said. “Instead, we gave ourselves a mountain to climb and it was very frustrating.”

Recent recruit Claude Seanla reduced that mountain somewhat with two goals on his debut. After failing to securing a deal with Tonbridge, Seanla, according to Lovell, has the potential to be a success at Homelands.

“He was recommended to me by Tommy Warrilow (Tonbridge manager) and after having a look at him we’ve decided to sign him permanently.”