NEW Debenham LC manager Dale Vince admits his side face a tricky Suffolk Senior Cup first round tie against Ipswich Athletic tomorrow.

Vince, who won his first match since being appointed as Rob Allum’s successor 3-2 at Brightlingsea Regent, leads his Ridgeons League side into action against their Kingsley Healthcare SIL opponents at Maitlands.

He said: “All SIL sides are tricky to play against. They will be keen to claim a big scalp like us, so it will be a really hard game.

“We will give them the respect they deserve, but not too much, and hopefully come out on top.”

Vince, who began his own career in the SIL with Grundisburgh before going on to play for Bury Town and Diss Town, joined Debenham three years ago.

A knee injury last season led to him taking on a coaching role at the club, and he admits he has been “fast-tracked” in to management after Allum quit the post just several weeks in to the season due to work commitments following his appointment in the summer as successor to Mel Aldis.

“The position became available and the club approached me and I was happy to take it on. I will try to use my experience as a player as much as I can in the job.”

Jason Pettitt, who is a Level 2 coach, has been appointed as Vince’s assistant manager and coach after cutting his teeth in youth football.

“We will help each other out by bouncing ideas off each other and hopefully take the club forward. The club were relegated last season and hopefully lessons have been learnt from that.”

Vince is not setting any targets for this season for the Hornets, who currently occupy eighth place in Division One with 12 points from their opening eight games.

“We were over the moon after our result last Saturday, and we are hoping to build on that. We have been too inconsistent so far as our results show with four wins and four defeats, but I believe we are getting there slowly.

“I know it is an old cliche but we will take it one game at a time. Hopefully we can keep hold of the players we have got and look to strengthen.

“It is hard to attract players to a village club like Debenham, but we have got some good young talent in the club.

“Hopefully we can get on a run and it would be great if we could get into the top six,” he added.