Westfields take on Shortwood United tonight in a Hellenic League Cup Round of 16 clash.
There may well be a young side on show for the Hereford side as they look to prioritise their league campaign as they push for promotion.
“Don’t get me wrong every cup is important as it is a chance to win silverware, but for us I feel like we should be focusing more on the league and pushing for promotion, but it gives players who don’t usually play a chance to get some game time and prove themselves,” stated Westfields winger Archie Muirhead.
After a 2-0 loss on Saturday at home to league leaders Cribbs, Westfields will be looking to respond positively to the set back.
“It’s massively important (to bounce back), to bring back positivity and togetherness within the team, we can’t dwell on the weekend result just focus on the game against Shortwood and I’m sure we’ll respond positively,” said Muirhead.
In the previous round of the cup Phil Glover’s men beat Long Crendon from the division below 4-2 which is the same league as Shortwood.
A young Westfields side struggled with the physicality of Long Crendon that night until the 70th minute when three first team regulars were brought on who changed the game.
Shortwood had a more challenging tie in the last round as they overcame Thornbury Town from the league above in a 2-1 win.
A few days after this a Muirhead goal earned Westfields a point against Thornbury in a 1-1 draw in what was a poor performance.
Tonight’s cup tie presents an unusual challenge for the side from Hereford as Shortwood do not play in the same league which could make it difficult for Glover to get his team ready.
“We do not really know what to expect from them so they will probably surprise us, and we’ve got to be prepared for that,” responded the Westfields winger.
Although the Gloucestershire side are in the league below Westfields they sit fourth in the league and are on a good run of form winning five of their last eight games.
“We can’t go into every game expecting to win and have an easy game, just because they are in a league below it does not mean we should treat them any differently,” said the former Worcester City man.
Westfields Team News
Adam Wakley will be unavailable for selection after he was sent off in Saturday’s league match against Cribbs for an off the ball altercation.
Joel Edwards and Kieran Thomas continue to be side-lined with long term injuries, other than that there are no fresh new injuries to report on.
Predicted Westfields Line-Up:
Matt Apperley, Zachary Bruton, Ben Vine, Cameron Marsh, Sean Powell, Harry Pitman, Kyle Cassell, Jack Gittoes, Harley Morris, Sam Griffiths, Ryan Hillier
This line-up would be a mixture of youngsters and more experienced first team players that have not been getting much game time recently.
I expect Phil Glover to rotate the side with a long away trip to Corsham Town on the horizon who only sit one place behind Westfields in the league.
With a potentially young side out against a team from the league below in good form, this cup game is bound to be an interesting spectacle.
