Dagenham & Redbridge manager Daryl McMahon knows a cup run is important for both confidence and financially for the club.
The Daggers will welcome Southern League Premier Division South side Hartley Wintney to Victoria Road on Saturday for a fourth qualifying round tie in the cup competition.
The winner of tie will bag themselves a spot in the hat for the first round while also securing £9,375 in prize money.
“Cup runs are always important, FA Trophy the same. To have a cup run can boost confidence, and it can put money into the club as well,” McMahon said.
“It’s a brilliant competition, it gives people the opportunity to normal play in front of big crowds and in big stadiums, obviously what’s going on in the world means we don’t have.
“It gives you a good opportunity to test yourself against opposition from different levels, different players, managers and different challenges. It’s a terrific tournament.”
The former Ebbsfleet United manager knows it’s more important than ever to get money back into the club after being hit by the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions.
“I think it’s the same for every club, they’ll see it as a big thing to try gain as much money as they can back through the FA Cup.
“For me the answer is the same every year, most clubs get excited around this time of year, especially the people in the boardroom in their little offices around the ground.”
While he knows they must still bring their best efforts in order to continue their progress in the competition.
“We’ve got to keep focused, for sure, we’ve got to perform. In the FA Cup anybody can beat anybody, we’ve seen that over the years, going back as long as you want.
“There is always big teams getting beaten by smaller sides, we’ve got to respect the opponent, which we will do and make sure we bring our A game.
“We’ve got reports, we’ve got some clips of them, and I’ve played against two or three of them over the years.
“We know they’ve got some talented players and normally at those levels, them teams are littered with players that have played at a higher level, who can turn it on at any given occasion.
“I’m sure they’ll look to come to our ground and look to put a performance on.”
Josh Strizovic, Callum Reynolds, Myles Weston, Dean Rance, Bailey Clements, Paul McCallum, Adrian Clifton and, of course, Harry Phipps have all been out injured and the boss doesn’t expect any returns to action this weekend.
“Probably not, it’s probably too early for Saturday, we hope to have one or two back training but that game will come too soon for them.”
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