Tough week goes on as Gainsborough Trinity host high-flying FC United of Manchester
A tough week does not get any easier for Gainsborough Trinity as they host fourth placed FC United of Manchester on Saturday in the NPL Premier Division.
And the Holy Blues will be without striker Jonny Margetts, who was hurt in Saturday's thrilling 1-1 FA Cup home draw with National League Hartlepool United.
Trinity were so close to pulling off a giantkilling until the visitors levelled seven minutes from time to force a midweek replay, played after this edition had gone to press.
“FC United have had an excellent start to the season collecting 20 points from 10 games,” said Gainsborough boss Russ Wilcox.
“Hopefully we have come out of the Hartlepool game unscathed injury wise after we lost top scorer Jonny Margetts last Saturday.
“We are short on numbers at the moment, but we will welcome back Josh Ayres who was cup-tied in the FA Cup. Please come down and give your full support to the players once again."
The cup games, with Trinity in Trophy action a week on Saturday, have wreaked havoc with the fixture schedule, but the Gainsborough faithful will be hoping for more fixture chaos, as that would mean progress in both competitions, for Wilcox's 'cup-kings'.
On Saturday, the Holy Blues led for a large chunk of the game, after Lewis Butroid put them ahead, 10 minutes before half-time.
Unfortunately, they weren’t able to hold onto their slender advantage as on 83 minutes, a long-range effort from Nathan Ferguson hit the bar before striking Gainsborough keeper David Robson and finding the back of the net in heartbreaking fashion.
The Holy Blues had more than matched the opposition, who were from two leagues above. And after the game, Wilcox admitted that he felt his side should have won.
“I think anyone who watched that game knows we were the better team by a country mile. It’s very, very cruel,” he said. “I’m devastated for the players because they were absolutely outstanding, they just couldn’t get that second goal.
"We knew they would throw the kitchen sink at it and they changed shape near the end with three strikers. But we still looked comfortable and it took a wonder strike to level.”