Faversham Town boss James Collins is excited to be pitting his wits against an impressive Folkestone Invicta team in the FA Trophy this Saturday.

It’s the only time Faversham have made it to the first round proper of the national competition.

Collins watched weekend opponents Invicta lose 5-0 on Monday in the league - their first loss in the Isthmian Premier this season. Faversham play a division lower down the pyramid and will be big underdogs when they head to Cheriton Road.

He said: “I watched them on Monday night and I am glad I did. They lost 5-0 but I thought they were good. I couldn’t believe how good the game was, it was really enjoyable.

“At every club I have been at, from Sunday League and reserve teams, bar Chatham in my second season, I have always had a budget where you are not really in the top 10 in the league and my view was that you have to look at other team’s weaknesses and try and expose them and take away their strengths.

“We will have a game plan and you always have a chance, even if it is only five or 10%.

“I think for the club it is a great tie financially, we get half the gate, it is the furthest the club has gone in the competition and that is something I am proud of and something the players should be proud of.

“You want to be involved in these games and test yourselves against better managers and players and I am really excited.”

Faversham sit 11th in the South East Division after a midweek defeat to Burgess Hill Town, losing 1-0. That came days after beating high-flyers Haywards Heath 3-1.

They were hit and miss results but Collins got a decent performance out of his injury-hit team in both matches. It was the response he wanted after a poor showing against Hythe at the start of the month, losing that game 2-1 after the manager admitted they “weren’t at the races.”

He said: “We played exceptionally well on Saturday. We were poor the Tuesday before against Hythe, we have five or six missing at the moment every week but I expected the team that played to put in a better performance but I got a reaction on Saturday and we were really good on Tuesday, we competed, we just lacked a bit of quality and composure in the final third.

“Not to make excuses, but we had seven missing on Tuesday and it was just too much really.

"They were two really good performances off the back of the Hythe game.

“There are ways to lose and it is easier to accept if you give everything, follow the game-plan, fight for each other and leave everything out on the pitch. I am sure we will do that on Saturday and if we don’t we will get a hiding.

“You don’t need to motivate players for this because they know they can’t take liberties or not be at the races because if they do they will get beat by five or six.

“I have huge respect for what Neil (Cugley, the Folkestone boss) has done there and it will be tough but we will give it a go.”

Cugley: "I like Faversham. I have got a lot of time for them"