BRANTHAM Athletic boss Tony Hall says his players will need to dig deep tomorrow if they are to reach the third round of the FA Vase.

Thurlow Nunn League Premier Division Brantham are at home to Division One leaders Cambridge University Press in the second round of the prestigious competition.

But while Brantham may be fifth in the table they have lost their last two matches and have five players struggling with injury.

A 3-1 home defeat at the hands of Hadleigh United last Saturday was followed by a 2-1 exit at holders Stanway Rovers in the Red Insure Cup on Wednesday night.

Hall said: “Before last weekend we said that we had a big few days coming up for the club.

“We lost to Hadleigh, and deservedly so, and we also lost at Stanway, so we now move on to Saturday, which becomes more important.

“We have to pick the boys up and go again. We will have to knuckle down and dig deep as we are not playing very well at the moment.

“Saturday’s game is big for the players and the club. It is a competition we want to try and push on in, and the boys need to get their confidence levels back up after two defeats.”

One of those is goalkeeper Ryan Bedingfield, who gifted Stanway the winning goal on Wednesday, just four days after completely miskicking a back pass which resulted in Hadleigh’s third goal.

Hall said: “He has been very consistent all season, but ‘Rigga’ has to get his confidence back after making a couple of mistakes.”

The strength of Brantham’s squad is set to be put to the test as Adam Bloss is still not ready to return from a hamstring injury, while right-back Simon Mann tweaked his hamstring on Wednesday night, after replacing Dan Pryke last Saturday when he suffered an ankle injury.

Centre back Alex Drennan bruised ribs against Hadleigh and, like Pryke, was not risked on Wednesday, while midfielder Ben Garnham has not played for three weeks due to a long-standing groin injury.

Hall admitted he did not know too much about tomorrow’s opponents, who dumped Premier Division Dereham Town out of the Red Insure Cup on Tuesday night, coming from behind to win 2-1.

“They are obviously a decent side as they are top of Division One, and we will have to be on top of our game to beat them.

“I will be making some telephone calls to find out more about them before Saturday!” added Hall.