Consistency key for Brett Marshall ahead of Staveley FA Vase tie

They enter at the second qualiyfing round stage with a home game against divisional rivals Barton Town, with whom they drew 2-2 in a NCEL Premier Division match just three weeks ago.

And coming into the game off a 4-0 win at Knaresborough Town last weekend, Marshall wants to see more of that kind of display rather than those that have also seen the Trojans fall to some narrow defeats during the season so far.

He said: “Saturday was a really good performance and we did what I expect us to do and what I feel we should do more often.

"It’s as simple as that and comes down to consistency. You often get that with a younger group and I accept that, but it’s shown in the fact that despite having won four and lost four of our first nine games, we have a goal difference of plus nine given some of our wins have been quite emphatic.

"I’ve felt we’ve deserved more from some games, maybe three or four points based on positions we were in and how we played, but we are in the top six and it gives us something to build on.”

Marshall says recruitment has been tricky, particularly for a club like Staveley who tend to pluck players out of the levels below to come and ply their trade at step five.

He said: “You can have players ripping it up at step six but who then struggle to cope with not only what I think is a big gap in quality at step five but also the other demands like more travelling, different styles of football and so on.

"Ability-wise as a group we are very good but when you miss key players in certain areas as we have done, it can affect things.

"We brought in Lewis Price from the reserve side on Saturday and he did really well, plus we’ve had a 17-year-old goalkeeper in Luke Chadwick playing in the last couple of games too.

"So it’s about getting the balance right if you can bring in one or two.”

Marshall added that an FA Vase run would, as with many clubs, be welcome at Staveley as they prepare for Saturday’s tie, saying: “Prize money isn’t great in the Vase at the moment but the prestige of a good cup run is always welcome.”