ST AUSTELL can expect Glossop North End to come at them at Surrey Street tomorrow (Saturday). The Hillmen may hold a two-goal advantage from the first leg but Chris Willcock says it’s simply not in their nature to play a defensive game.
“If you’d offered me a 2-0 win at 3 o’clock last week I would have taken it, but it’s hardly an unbeatable lead. There are lots of instances of clubs coming back from two down,” the Glossop boss said.
“I think the first goal will be very important. If we get it then the tie’s as good as won, but if St Austell score then it’s game-on.
“They have no choice but to go for it and we always look to score goals - we can’t play any other way. I expect St Austell to put in a better performance than they did at their place and I expect more from my lads too. It all adds up to a potential cracker.”
Willcock has a full squad to choose from and agrees that the team has been extremely lucky to avoid impact injuries when it is playing twice a week. Otherwise he has used rotation to avoid fatigue, sometimes making as many as six changes to maintain freshness.
He also insists there is no complacency at Surrey Street. That has been seen off by the club’s pursuit of the North West Counties League championship.
The manager explained: “As you can imagine, on the way back from Cornwall things were very buoyant. We had a brief chat getting off the coach and agreed no one was to mention the W word until the semi-final was settled.
“Fortunately, fighting on more than one front has made it easy to keep the players focused. We had to go to AFC Blackpool on Tuesday so there was no time think about anything else. Those three points were very important. Without the match we might have got carried away.
“On Thursday we had a very good training session and talked through our game plan.”
The only thing spoiling the scenario for Willcock is High Peak Council’s decision to restrict Surrey Street’s capacity to 1,303.
“It’s purely my opinion but I’m very disappointed. I think we should have had more support from the local authority. I think we could have got nearly 2,000 into the ground.
“But there’s nothing we can do. Whatever size the crowd is I’m sure that we’ll rise to the occasion,” said the manager adding: “With any luck we might have one of those Glossop afternoons when we get all four seasons in 90 minutes.
“I’m sure that would be fun for a team from a place as lovely as Cornwall.”