AFC St Austell manager Phil Lafferty believes that the support of the town will give his side the edge in Saturday's FA Vase quarter final match against Ascot United at Poltair Park.
The Lilywhites have already made history by getting to this stage for the first time with victory over Stanway Rovers in the Fifth Round being the record-breaker, which was witnessed by a crowd of 877 as they dug deep to win 2-0.
AFC St. Austell v Ascot United
The FA Vase
Sixth Round Proper
3pm, Saturday 28 February 2015
Poltair Park, St. Austell
Winners receive £4500 from prize fund
And having made the round by storming to a 3-0 win over Norwich United that was all but over after 32 minutes, the Yellamen will be looking to make history of their own with a win here seeing them make the Semi-Final stages – something the club has never achieved.
But Lafferty will want to stop the Hellenic Premier Division side in their tracks as he looks to continue to set new club records in this competition.
"We have done a bit of homework; I haven't been able to watch the opposition, but I do have people that I trust to watch them [Ascot United], which stands us in good stead because at this stage you can't not do your research," Lafferty told TheFA.com.
"They are a very cohesive side and are hard working; they don't have a certain system or play a particular style of football but you don't make the last eight without being effective. From what I have heard, we have to be careful with how they counter attack and work for the second ball so we will work on that.
"We will approach the game with a bit of caution because no-one makes the last eight without being a good side – but we want to go out and win the game."
Both sides are in fantastic form in their respective leagues with Lafferty's Southern Peninsula Premier Division side losing just twice all season, while the Yellamen have won four out of their last five games.
But with the Lilywhites being at home Lafferty is confident they can come away with a result.
"We have an advantage because we are very fortunate to have the county who will pretty much rally and get behind us," he added.
"So we see the home advantage as a massive positive and it proved against Stanway [Rovers] in the last round.
"I'm walking on air at the moment in terms of how proud I am with the players and the progress we have made."
