WANTAGE Town player-manager Stuart Cattell is hoping for a good end to a difficult week as he leads his side to Weymouth in the first qualifying round of the Buildbase FA Trophy.

After chairman Tony Woodward stepped down due to health reasons at the end of last week, the Alfredians were thumped 7-1 by Shortwood United on Tuesday.

“It does take the stuffing out of you a bit,” Cattell said of recent events.

“But we’ll pick them up again for Saturday, because it’s a game they’ve been looking forward to.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity for everyone.”

Harry Halls returns to the squad, but Wantage remain without the unavailable Tom Butler and Mason Thompson, as well as the injured Adam Doyle (knee), Jake Johns (groin) and Tai Hulbert-Thomas (hernia).

Banbury United open their campaign at home to Bishops Cleeve.

Despite a full division separating the two sides in the football pyramid, manager Mike Ford is wary of the potential of an upset.

He said: “When we played Wealdstone in the FA Cup there’s no doubt they viewed it as a potential banana skin and they were very lucky to get through in the end.

“It’s nice to have a cup game and it gives us a chance to express ourselves, but we know what we have to do to get past them.

“We played them twice last season, so we know what they’re about.

“If we’re not at our very best we could be in for an uncomfortable afternoon.”

The Puritans are without the cup-tied Luke Carnell, who has already tasted defeat at the hands of Bishops Cleeve after they defeated Didcot Town 1-0 in the preliminary round.

Jacob Blackstock returns to the Banbury squad from international duty, after helping Antigua & Barbuda Under 20s qualify for the 2017 CONCACAF Under 20 Championship.

North Leigh welcome back Morgan Williams, Lance Williams and Eric Odhiambo as they travel to Yate Town.

The trio were unavailable as the Millers slipped to back-to-back defeats when they were beaten 3-1 at Larkhall Athletic on Wednesday – Aaron Woodley grabbing the North Leigh goal.

And manager John Brough admitted a break from the league campaign had come at a good time.

“It’s a nice distraction for us after the last couple of games,” he said.

“It was disappointing to lose the last two, but the last time we did that we went on a 12-game unbeaten run, so hopefully this will be the start of something similar.”

Bradley Gray is cup-tied and Jamie Cook remains sidelined with a knee injury, but they are hopeful of a return for midfielder Callum McNish after a hamstring injury.

TOMORROW’S SQUADS

Wantage Tn (v Weymouth, away): from Cavanagh, McNeil, Cattell, Kalakoutis, Hathaway, Burton, Francis, Jones, Ferris, Broad, Halls, Scholes, Robinson, Glover, Brown, Sadler.

Banbury Utd (v Bishops Cleeve, home): from Harding, Gunn, White, Nash, Odhiambo, Westbrook, Martin, Bell, Browne, Self, McEachran, Johnson, Sambrook, Rimmer, Davies, Jeacock, McDonagh, Blackstock.

North Leigh (v Yate Tn, away): from Thompson, Platt, Turk, White, Hopkins, Hole, L Williams, R James, D James, Odhiambo, Murphy, McNish, Seacole, M Williams, Else, A Woodley, M Woodley, Steedman, Fawke, Wrona.