‘Big test’ awaits Town in their FA Cup opener

The extra-preliminary round clash will see Town travel to Farley Way keen to get one over their United Counties League Premier Division hosts.

“We’re looking forward to it, it’ll be a big test for us,” Manship told The Times.

“They’re a good club, a big club and a well-established club.

“The FA Cup is an important competition for us, I’m not going to lie. We’ll do the best we can and see where it takes us.”

Quorn may sit a division higher than Town, but Manship is hoping to replicate last season’s performance in the extra-preliminary round where Kadeem Price and Jordan Levet were on target as Town came from behind to stun Northern Premier League South East Division Worksop at Sandy Lane.

The following round saw them battle well against Cleethorpes Town before going down 3-1 to another NPL side.

“We are confident,” Manship added. “We played teams from Step 4 last year and gave them good games.

“We beat Worksop and pushed Cleethorpes all the way so we’re confident going into the game - but Quorn are as good as those teams.”

Town and Quorn were due to meet in a friendly on Saturday, but the game was called off following the FA Cup draw.

“We both decided it was the right thing to do to respect the FA Cup,” Manship added.

Instead, Melton secured a 3-2 friendly win over Sileby and will host Cottesmore this evening (KO 7.30pm).

Tuesday’s FA Cup clash kicks off at 7.45pm and supporters can buy e-tickets by visiting https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/Quorn-Football-Club.

A JustGiving page has been launched to help Town try to cover the costs of damage caused to their ground and equipment, as reported in last week’s Times.

You can donate by visiting www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/meltontownfcvandalismrepairfund