Boss Funk urges town to back his Boro side

Boro face up to the Northern League side in the preliminary round at Queensgate on Sunday afternoon (3pm), and Funk is hoping for a bumper crowd for the cup clash.

Athletic will cash in £1,925 if they win on Sunday and move into the first qualifying round, and Funk knows the benefits of that to the club.

“The FA Cup is the biggest club cup competition in the World and the benefits to a good run in it are obvious for all to see,” said Funk.

“You attract so much extra interest and exposure and the financial benefits are great too.

“I hope that with the game being on Sunday it can play into our hands a bit and we can get a good crowd in for the game.

“The team is playing good, attractive and attacking football at the moment and it’s good to watch, so I would urge people to come and support Scarborough Athletic.”

Funk’s men go into the clash on the back of a hat-trick of Evo-Stik North wins against Harrogate Railway, New Mills and Brighouse Town, scoring 10 goals in the process, but the boss isn’t taking anything for granted against a North Shields side who have won four and drawn one and sit top of the Ebac Northern League division one table.

Funk isn’t paying much attention to Sunday’s high-flying visitors though.

He said: “Regardless of who the opposition is, we don’t pay too much attention to them.

“Other than having a look at them and gathering the relevant information, we worry about our team and making sure our house is in order first.

“We’ve been playing well and scoring goals, but that goes out of the window on Sunday and we will be fully respectful of our opposition.”

The Boro boss isn’t setting any specific targets for the competition, but is taking it game-by-game.

He added: “It would be silly of anyone to set specific targets for competitions like this.

“I doubt even the biggest of clubs will do so, and neither will we. These are exciting, one-off games and we will enjoy being a part of it.”