Nantwich Town are enjoying their best-ever ride in The FA Trophy but manager Phil Parkinson says he is not ready to get off just yet.
The Dabbers are through to the last 16 for the first time in their history having beaten Bradford Park Avenue 5-0 in round two and welcome fellow Northern Premier League Premier Division Stourbridge to the Weaver Stadium this weekend.
But with only one place and two points between them in the league table, Parkinson, who captained Nantwich to FA Vase success a decade ago, sees no reason why Nantwich cannot continue their progress.
Nantwich Town v Stourbridge
The FA Trophy
Third Round
3pm, Saturday 6 February
The Weaver Stadium, Nantwich Town FC
Winning club will receive £7,000
by David Marsh
He said: “It’s really special to me having played at the club before.
“Getting to the third round is a huge achievement for Nantwich, but the round before was the first time we had ever reached the second round as well.
“It’s a massive positive for the club and something that the whole town can get behind and get excited about.
“My main job was to come in and make sure the club stayed away from relegation first, then my personal objective was to get the town behind the team and I wanted to create a strong community spirit.
“I wanted to create a team that the town can be proud of by playing a very attractive flowing style of football.
“Everything that I’ve wanted has come to be so far.”
And while reaching the third round is a dream come true for Parkinson and Nantwich, the manager insists that he will not get caught up in any fairytale stories of lifting the trophy and his attention is entirely on the challenge that Stourbridge will bring on Saturday.
Gary Hackett’s side have eliminated opponents from higher leagues themselves during this year’s tournament, with Braintree Town their latest victims in the second round.
They also reached the Emirates FA Cup second round and Parkinson said: “It’s going to be a huge challenge.
“We’ve played Stourbridge twice this season and we lost to them once and beat them on the other occasion.
“We’re both very similar attack-minded teams, so it will be a mouth-watering tie – for the neutral anyway!
“It will be a really tough challenge but my team fancies their chances.
“We never approach any games any differently, continuity is key and we do things exactly the same way in preparation for this game as we would for any other."
You can watch The FA Trophy fourth round draw live on Periscope from 11am on Monday 8 February.
