Faversham Town go into Saturday’s FA Cup preliminary round tie at home to Westfield with manager Ray Turner emphasising the importance of the financial rewards on offer in the early rounds of the competition.

The victors in Saturday’s tie will pick up £1,925, with £3,000 going to the winners in the next round.

Turner, whose side are second in Ryman League, Division 1 South following Monday’s victory over Herne Bay, said: “The sort of prize money you can pick up in the FA Cup is vital because if you want to keep your squad together and potentially add to it later in the season, then winning one or two rounds in the Cup can help you do that.

“It provides you with the sort of extra funds that you didn’t budget for at the start of the season. So Saturday is an important game.”

And Turner knows that, on paper at least, Faversham’s bank balance should be nearly £2,000 healthier come Saturday night.

Whereas his side have won four of their opening six matches, the Surrey outfit had picked up just two points from their opening five matches in the Cherry Red Combined Counties League, Premier Division ahead of last night’s (Wednesday) trip to Guildford City.

However, Turner warned: “The Combined Counties League is quite strong, it’s pretty physical and Westfield will come here with nothing to lose. We’ve got to make sure that we all do our jobs properly.”