Chatham chairman Jeff Talbot is hoping his club receive another bonus pay-out this weekend.

His side take on Merstham in the first qualifying round of the FA Trophy on Saturday with a £2,550 winner’s cheque up for grabs.

Every penny that the club make in the cup competitions is a bonus as prizemoney wasn’t included in the budget for the season.

It has meant that Mr Talbot (pictured) has been able to put vital funding back into the club.

He said: "We’re all struggling at this level financially and we’ve got budgets to think about but we’ve won a couple of cup matches already.

"That’s allowed us to invest in a bit of technology which means we can now pay the players automatically and we’ve been able to repair the grass cutting machine.

"So we’ve been investing that money and it’s gone to a good cause.

"Obviously, it’s not something you can rely on so we keep it out of the budget and when we do get it, we invest it."

Chats have started their Ryman League, Division 1 North season well and they sit eighth with just one defeat in the league.

In contrast, cup opponents Merstham have won only once and sit third from bottom in the South division.

But Mr Talbot won’t be thinking about spending any extra money just yet. "It’s dangerous to start thinking about it beforehand so we will just wait until 4.45pm and see what happens," he said.