BROCKENHURST are fully focused on their FA Vase fifth round tie with Littlehampton – despite their opponents only being confirmed four days prior to the match.

A FA Charge against Athletic Newham saw the London club chucked out of the competition despite beating Littlehampton 5-0 in the fourth round, but after a lengthy appeal process it has now been confirmed that the Badgers will travel tomorrow to Sussex-based Littlehampton instead.

With time limits on preparation and hindered by the distance between the two sides, Brockenhurst manager Pat McManus chanced his luck and focused on Littlehampton.

Speaking to the Daily Echo, McManus said: “We could never be 100 per cent sure because FA decisions are notoriously unreliable, if you're not in the know, I suppose.

“But we are a little frustrated about how long it actually took.

“We made the decision that probability wise it was more than likely to be Littlehampton, based on the information we were getting with regards to the nature of the offence.

“So, the majority of the time spent with regards to preparation was done for Littlehampton. So we're okay."

Brockenhurst go into the tie off the back of a packed schedule that saw them play five times in 10 days.

“We haven't had time really for the Vase to be a distraction, because we've actually played now five fixtures in the last 10 days.

“We've had to rotate the squad to make sure that we don't arrive on Saturday fatigued.

“We've managed to utilise the whole structure of the club, with under-18 and development players to make sure we don't use the same nucleus of players ahead of Saturday, really.

“But we've managed to do that in a way that they're the league form and points return hasn't suffered."

When quizzed whether Littlehampton were at a mental disadvantage after losing 5-0 in the previous round and being reinstated, McManus said: “To be honest, we're preparing to play one of the top sides at our level because league tables don't lie, they are top of their League, they’re seven points clear.

“Littlehampton are at home now, so the conditions are all completely different to that day.

"We all have off days and it's quite feasible - East London is not the easiest place to get to on a Saturday.

"We're preparing for a really tough afternoon on Saturday and we're expecting one, so we won't take anything for granted just because they got beat heavily last time.

"We're not expecting an easier game than we would have expected it to be against Athletic Newham, that's for sure.

"There's no chance of us underestimating Littlehampton."

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