BLUES boss Lee Casswell reckons his side are "more than capable" of beating higher league Matlock Town in tonight's FA Trophy replay.
Leek Town held the Evo-Stik Premier outfit to a goalless draw on Saturday despite losing Danny Smith to a straight red towards the start of the second half. And Casswell believes the Blues can go one better in tonight's replay which has been switched to Belper Town's Christchurch Meadow ground due to the installation of the new dugouts and perimeter fence at Harrison Park.
"In the first half we more than matched Matlock," insisted the Blues manager. "We created problems and coped with them quite well. Obviously the turning point was Danny getting sent off. It was then a case of trying to stay in the game. But we defended really well.
"The question was asked before the game. Have we enough winners in the side? Have we enough players prepared to put their neck on the line? On Saturday they proved to me that we have. It's nice to get a response after the Halesowen game when we were lacklustre. We are more than capable of getting a result on Wednesday (tonight)."
The carrot on offer is a home tie against Blue Square North high-flyers Stalybridge Celtic in the next round on November 10.
Casswell added: "It's a great motivation for both teams to test themselves against lads who play full time. Matlock will obviously be tough but we are more than capable if we apply ourselves like we did on Saturday."
The Leek Town manager does have concern over dwindling numbers following a number of raids on Harrison Park in recent weeks. Fleet-footed winger Rob Stevenson's exit follows hot on the heels of decisions by defender Mark Ruddock and midfielder Christian Millar to exit the club. Stevenson has returned to Market Drayton after the Shropshire outfit put in the official seven days notice of approach.
Casswell said: "What we though was a squad of 16 real quality players has not turned out that way because those lads want to play every week. We've got to go out and find other players now because we are short on numbers.
"Rob Stevenson was very unlucky. He lost his place to Dan Shelley who has probably the highest pedigree of anyone in this league. Rob had done pretty well. We certainly want another wide player."
