Whitby Town in top shape ahead of FA Cup first round clash at League One Bristol Rovers

The Seasiders end a 20-year wait to play a match in the proper rounds of the cup at the Memorial Stadium on Saturday against a currently managerless League One outfit, writes Liam Ryder.

Haslam, who enjoyed success in the qualifying rounds at previous spells in charge at Bishop Auckland and Marske United, albeit without quite making it to the main competition, believes his current squad are travelling to the South West in the best shape possible.

The Town boss told The Whitby Gazette: "The lads are looking forward to the game. It's a big weekend for everybody and we'll be going there well prepared. We'll have had two training sessions prior to the match where we'll have been working on game specific aspects of our game before travelling down on Friday.

"We're going there fresh with pretty much a full squad to choose from. There's a lot more footage available to us so the recent gap without league games has been beneficial for myself and my management team to get our teeth in to.

"In hindsight, the break has been beneficial. We've not had that opportunity for any injuries to be picked up so we can look at that as something of an advantage to us."

Haslam could not sing the praises of the support enough on the back of the two fourth qualifying round ties against Chelmsford, and the Whitby boss is looking forward to seeing another raucous away following back his side in Bristol.

Despite the long journey, the Seasiders' faithful look set to come out in force to support Town at Rovers, something which Haslam and his players are relishing once more.

"It's a long way to travel as a fan, effectively from one side of the country to the other. It's nice to hear that our allocation is pretty much sold out.

"We're going to have our regular fans there, along with the exiles living elsewhere in the country. There'll be a real healthy support there for us.

"As ever, when you do go away, irrespective of where you go, the away fans are always up for it and they do make a lot of noise. I've gone on record a few times and I'll say it again that they'll be really important for us without a doubt."

Supporters can pick up one of a few remaining tickets by calling in to the Towbar Express Stadium @ The Turnbull Ground on Thursday or Friday.