By Joe Harbert

Ashford United boss Tommy Warrilow insists the league is still the team’s priority, after his side were knocked out of the FA Cup.

The club’s hopes of reaching the second qualifying round for the first time since 1998 were scuppered by Saturday’s 3-0 defeat to Southern League Premier South side Farnborough at Homelands.

This weekend all attention for the Nuts & Bolts switches back to the league, as Warrilow’s side look to maintain their 100% start to the Isthmian South East campaign away to Whyteleafe.

“Of course we wanted to stay in the cup as long as possible, but the league is always the priority,” the 55-year-old said.

“We didn’t play badly against Farnborough, we just missed a lot of chances and weren’t clinical enough in front of goal.

“During the second half we could have maybe used our front two in Jay (May) and David (Smith) a bit more, but when you lose a game of football you can always say things should have been done differently.

“But it’s still so early in the season; when you lose a game it’s all about how you react.”

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United, who sit second in the league with a game in hand, have won three games out of three, conceding just one goal in that time. If they can overcome this weekend’s challenge, the side could potentially end the weekend top of the table if other results go their way, with winnable fixtures on paper to come afterwards too.

Warrilow added: “Our match against Whyteleafe is going to be tough. They’re a good footballing side so I just need to make sure that we get a reaction from Saturday.

“We’ll go through lots of bits and bobs in training, making sure there’s no moping about, perhaps we’ll even do some finishing practice in training after last week!”

He added: “I’ve also got to give all the boys game-time when I can, but players like Ramell (Lake), he picked up a groin strain at the weekend.

“So the guys that do come in, if they do play well, that only makes it harder for me because of the options we’ve got.”

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