The next few games will define Pinchbeck United’s season, manager Lewis Thorogood says.
The Knights find themselves in the Uhlsport UCL Premier Division North relegation zone.
But they could haul themselves out of it on Saturday with a victory over a Selston side just one place and one point above them in the table.
It was a victory over the Nottingham side in August that saw Pinchbeck win for the first time in more than two years.
And Thorogood says it’s the first in a string of ‘cup finals’ against sides around them in the league.
The Knights go into the fixture on the back of a 5-0 defeat at home to title chasing Anstey Nomads, conceding four in the second half.
“We knew it was going to be a difficult game against a side who has only lost once so far this season,” Thorogood said.
“We tried to set up and frustrate them and we did well for 35 to 40 minutes.
“It’s disappointing then to concede the first goal from a free kick when there’s 16 or 17 players in the box and no-one’s challenging the ball.
“You go in at half time 0-0 and you’re in with a real chance of getting something.
“The first half performance wasn’t bad but then we go 2-0 down, the confidence drops and they just took control of the game and took advantage of our vulnerability.
“We’ve got to look at the performance and mistakes we’ve made and learn from them to make sure the performance goes up a level.
“We’ve got to make sure we dust ourselves down and we’ll go their with the most experienced team we can.
“I don’t think this game will define our season, but the next four or five will.
“We’re playing a number of sides in and around us.
“They’re all cup finals as far as I’m concerned and this is the first one.
“Let’s go into it, see what we can get out of it and build from there.
“Selston have certainly improved since we beat them earlier in the season and they had a good (5-0) win at Holbeach.
“It’s going to be hard and I predict quite cagey.
“But I’m not worried about what they do, it’s what we do that’s important. We’ve got to be more on the front foot and get forward a bit more.”
