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Chatham’s reward for upsetting Folkestone in the FA Cup is a trip to Havant - and Scott Lindsey just hopes all his players can get there.
Chats travel to Hampshire next Tuesday to take on National South Hawks - a full-time club - in the third qualifying round.
It’s an exciting tie for Lindsey’s Southern Counties East high-fliers but the manager’s immediate thoughts following Monday afternoon’s draw centred on getting his squad to the game.
Unfortunately, Chats fans can't attend as Havant must play behind closed doors under the government's Covid-19 rules, owing to their status as an 'elite' club.
Boss Lindsey said: “We’ve got to start putting preparations in place first and foremost to get there safely.
“It’s quite a long journey at our level and the players work for a living so we have to see if they can get the afternoon off work and try and travel down there as a group.
“All these things come into consideration and, with Covid, it’s more difficult to prepare.
“We’ve had a few discussions to try and put things in place for what will be a difficult game.
“I know the manager, Paul Doswell, really well from when he was at Sutton and I was at Forest Green, so I know what to expect from his sides.
“He always had strong players in his team and, looking at their website, I recognise a lot of the players.
“It’s a game we’re looking forward to more than anything.
“There’s no reason why we can’t go there and give a good account of ourselves and with it being the FA Cup, there’s always that chance of winning.
“I wouldn’t change the way we play if we were playing Barcelona.
“We do what we do because it’s what we know.
“We won’t change for anybody and that’s not being disrespectful.
“I just feel if we do what we do to our full potential then we’ve always got a chance of winning.”
Chatham won 3-0 at Isthmian Premier Folkestone on Saturday thanks to Dan Bradshaw’s double and a late third from Jack Evans.
It was a terrific result against a side who play two divisions higher but Lindsey wasn’t totally satisfied.
He said: “We felt we could go there and get an upset, which we obviously did, but I don’t think we played particularly well.
“I know that sounds crazy when you’ve beaten a side from two leagues above 3-0 but I just felt we made the game end-to-end, which is not how we play.
“We normally dominate more and control the game more, so I wasn’t 100 per cent happy with the performance and neither were the players.
“We were delighted with the result and certain aspects of the performance were very good but a lot of things weren’t.
“It’s testament to the players that we’ve got a result like that and we’re talking about how we could have been better.”
Chatham bid to extend their 100 per cent record in the league to six matches when they host fellow unbeaten side Tunbridge Wells at Maidstone Road tonight.
Lindsey said: “They’ve got good players, they’re a strong outfit and we’ll have to make sure everyone’s 100 per cent on it in order to get anything from the game.
“There’s a good feeling around the club and lot of confidence after the start we’ve made but football has a nasty habit of kicking you in the teeth when you’re doing well."
Chatham visit another fancied side this Saturday when they go to Beckenham.
The match will pit Chats midfielder Luke Rooney against his old club.
