Scarborough Athletic set sights on more FA Cup success in first round clash against Forest Green Rovers

Frank Mulhern puts Boro 1-0 ahead in the FA Cup clash at home to Oxford City. The home crowd will be hoping for another thriller on Saturday against Forest Green.

The Seadogs slipped to a defeat on the road at National League North pacesetters Tamworth on Saturday afternoon as their poor away form in the league continued, but Greening and his troops will have their sights set firmly on a cup upset at The Flamingo Land Stadium this Saturday.

The first round clash, which kicks off at 3pm, is a sell-out, so the scene is set for a cracking atmosphere.

Speaking after the Tamworth clash, Greening said: “The one thing for sure is that we will bounce back and be working hard to put on a good performance next week.

"I just said to the lads, forget the league now for a week and you’ve got to enjoy the FA Cup, with a League Two team coming to our place, a full house. If we are on it, every single one of them, including subs coming on, we can beat anybody. I just think today we had 4-5 players off it a bit and this can really affect the performance.

"We’ll be working hard to give it a real go, make the fans happy and get a good result.”

Athletic earned their place in the first round thanks to a dramatic replay win at National League side Oxford City, so they will be aiming to snap up another cup scalp in the shape of League Two strugglers Forest Green side, who include former Watford striker Troy Deeney in their squad.

Speaking about the loss at Tamworth, Greening added: “I was really disappointed with the result, we had been playing really well recently over the past three or four games, looked really good in possession and out of possession.

"I think we didn’t get beat by the better footballing side, they didn’t open us up with a lot of chances. I think they’ve had one chance first half when Crackers has made a good save, where they’ve scored is from a long throw where we flick it on ourselves and their man in the box slots it home. We were not at it in the final third and looked a bit off it.

"The second half we changed shape and they didn’t hurt us until late on when their guy’s hit a 25-yard curling shot into the top corner.”

Boro have been handed a second round tie at National League North rivals Chorley in the FA Trophy on Saturday November 18.