MARK Owen re-iterated the need for his Droitwich Spa team to continue to take the game to teams if they want to continue their record run in the FA Vase.
The Saltmen face a second-round trip to Midland League Premier Division side Lye Town on Saturday (3pm).
Lye play two divisions above the Saltmen but having beaten three higher-level teams already in reaching the second round, Owen’s men will be confident of continuing their best-ever run in the competition.
“We’ve got to approach it exactly the same as every game,” said the Spa manager.
“In every game that we’ve played so far in the Vase, we’ve been the underdogs, and this weekend will be no different.
“We’ve got to go there with that fire in our bellies and that underdog mentality.
“Nothing’s got to change, it’s another tough game. Lye will want to win bounce back [after a 6-0 loss to Coventry United] in their last game.”
With £900 in prize money and a place in the Vase last 64 on the line, there is plenty at stake this weekend.
“It would be unbelievable to get through,” said Owen. “If you had told the lads that we’d be six games away from Wembley at the start of the season, we’d have bitten your hand off.
“We’ve got to give it everything we’ve got and hopefully it’ll be enough.”
Spa had no game last weekend following the postponement of their trip to Bromyard Town, and it was a break which Owen welcomed.
“We had players with one or two niggles, so in a way it will be a good thing that we didn’t play and had that break to recover,” he said.
Midfielder Cory Rudd is the only player set to miss out this weekend through suspension, with an otherwise full-strength squad available for selection.
