Erith & Belvedere manager Matt Longhurst believes that he can finally "start to dream" of making a Wembley Final.
Having beaten four teams on the road already in this competition, the Deres got a welcome home draw at their Park View Road ground where they will take on Northern League Division One side North Shields in the quarter finals of The FA Vase, on Saturday.
Erith & Belvedere v North Shields
The FA Vase
Sixth Round Proper
3pm, Saturday 28 February 2015
Park View, Erith & Belvedere FC
Winners receive £4500 from prize fund
The Kent Southern Counties East League side have already made history by making it to the last eight of The FA Vase with a 3-2 away victory over Holbeach United, while visitors North Shields advanced to the round with a comprehensive 4-1 home win over Phoenix Sports – who sit ten points clear at the top of the Deres' league.
But Matt Longhurst will not let the defeat to their fellow league rivals at the hands of the Robins startle his side – with the young manager confident in his assessment of the Tyneside club.
"We will set a team up to go an attack them and win the game, we have seen them play before, so we know what they are good at and what they are not so good at," Longhurst told TheFA.com
"They have got an ex-Football League player as their manager [Graham Fenton], they have some extremely good wide players and a lad that plays up front who scores a lot of goals [Gareth Bainbridge].
"In the last couple of games we have scored a lot of goals and we have played some very good teams in this competition, with most teams being at the top of their league. Tactically, we are both offensively and defensively decent; we need to be at this crucial stage in the competition."
The Deres come into this tie having had their Wednesday league clash with Canterbury City postponed due to a waterlogged pitch, which is beneficial for Longhurst as it allows him to concentrate on his team and the dream of making a Wembley Final.
Longhurst said: "I can start to dream about making it to Wembley which, as a manager, I have never had the opportunity to think about.
"To get to Wembley it would be a very proud moment – my aim is to manage at the highest level and hopefully I can help take this club to the next level."
