Benhall St Mary captain Chris Sillett cannot wait for his team to pit their wits against Wenhaston United on Saturday afternoon (2pm kick off).

The local rivals meet in a Bob Coleman Cup quarter-final in Wenhaston, and experienced frontman Sillett is relishing the encounter as his SIL Division One outfit look to upset an established Senior Division side.

“We cannot wait for the game,” said Sillett, who is a prolific goalscorer for ‘The Badgers’.

“We play Wenhaston in a pre-season friendly every year, and, for the first time last summer, we beat them 3-1 which has boosted our confidence going into Saturday.

“Wenhaston are one of our local rivals, and most of the players know each other as well so that adds a bit more spice to things.”

Indeed, Sillett has enjoyed stacks of games playing for Wenhaston’s manager, Carl Chenery, when the pair were at Leiston in the club’s Step 5 Ridgeons League days.

“Carl was the reason I went to Leiston,” recalled Sillett, who scored a late winner (2-1) for the Blues against at-the-time Ryman Premier Carshalton Athletic in the Suffolk sides’ famous FA Cup run in 2008.

“We had some great times together and it’s always good to see him and go up against him and his teams.

“I did have a little smile when I saw the draw (against Wenhaston), and these are the games and teams we want to be playing in and against.

“Our aim is to be playing Senior Division football next season. We are second in the league at the moment, and are in the latter stages of both the Bob Coleman Cup and the Junior Cup (semi-finals) so we are going really well.”

Sillett continued: “The sky is the limit for us. The squad is packed full of quality, and we have a tremendous team spirit. We’ve already won two Junior Cup games on penalties this season, and one of those was with nine men.”

Sillett’s strike partner on Saturday is likely to be former Leiston and Hadleigh man Kelsey Trotter. The pair have scored 40 goals between them already this season, with Sillett describing Trotter as ‘brilliant’.