West Auckland manager Peter Dixon wants all his players to be at their best when they go to Hednesford in the third qualifying round of the FA Cup today.

West have a mountain to climb against the Conference North leaders if they are to reach the last qualifying round, but Dixon believes that West have the ability to pull off a major shock against a club that lost to Middlesbrough in the 1996-97 fourth round.

“I want the players to make the club proud and play to the best of their ability. If we give Hednesford the shock of their lives and lose, then personally I’ll feel proud,” he said.

“If we get them back to West for a replay or even beat them, then that would be unbelievable. These are the kind of scenarios that we like, but we must be on top of our game right from the start of the match. When I first went to West, we were always expected to lose, now we don’t have any trepidation about going into games like this. If the players give a good account of themselves, then regardless of the result, then I’ll be happy.”

West, who are unbeaten in league and cup this season, expect to be at full strength.

Marske United, who are the surprise packages so far this season with an unbeaten record in league and cup, are at home to Halesowen from the Evo-Stik First Division South.

Marske expect to have a partisan crowd of over 600 behind them in their first ever game at this stage of the competition, and manager Ted Watts said: “I’ve watched Halesowen twice, and I’ve also had a good report on them.

“They’re well-organised and disciplined in what they do, and we need to make them think. Hopefully, the pace that we have in our team will cause them problems, but we have to be aware of what they’re capable of at setpieces. We know we’ll have to play well to beat them, but we’ve proved already in the run that we can find our top form.”

Striker Andy Jennings is expected to pass a late fitness test, while midfielders Liam O’Sullivan and Bryan Stewart should also be fit.

Guisborough have home advantage against Workington, who are bottom of Conference North, and they add striker David Onions to their squad, but midfielder Liam McPhillips will have a fitness test.

Manager Chris Hardy said: “It’s a great opportunity for us. We need a certain amount of luck, and we have to perform really well on the day, and if those two factors come together, then maybe we can cause an upset.

“We’re in a win-win situation. We’re not expected to get anything from the game, so we’re under no pressure and hopefully that will help us get the level of performance we’re after.

“We need to keep a clean sheet, because we’ve certainly got goals in us. Dan Johnson and Mikey Roberts are playing very well at the moment.”

Penrith are the other ENL club in action at this stage of the Cup, away to Bradford PA.