Salisbury manager Steve Claridge has said that tomorrow's game against Hereford 'is like a cup final for us'.
"It's like a cup final for us," said Claridge as reported by the Salisbury OS.
"It's fantastic at our level to be hosting a club like Hereford.
"I would like to congratulate them on the season they are having. People talk about having resources but it's still not easy to do what they have done, which is to dominate the league from day one. I don't think there's ever been a doubt they would win it.
"If we had been able to get our act together sooner, we might have been able to run them closer but we had lessons to learn early on and it took a while.
"I'm just disappointed that we haven't been able to open up the ticketing to their entire fan base because you want as many as possible there for these big games to create the best possible atmosphere.
"It's always the problem though when a club suffers for the behaviour of one or two idiots. We know that the majority of their fans are fantastic."
“At
that time, you could identify weaknesses in their side that you could
exploit,” said Claridge.
“Now they’re bigger, stronger and more
experienced. They are a proper unit.
“We will have to be at the top of our game to beat them but I do think we are one of the few sides capable of beating them. And with the new players, I am more confident than I was this time last week.
“We went to Tiverton with eight first team players missing, then I had to try and win the game at Highworth while making sure I didn’t risk key players ahead of the Hereford game and at the same time giving playing time to some who needed it.
“I always want to win games, and that goes for every cup competition, but I hope people understand where we are as a squad and that there is also a bigger picture here.”
“We will have to be at the top of our game to beat them but I do think we are one of the few sides capable of beating them. And with the new players, I am more confident than I was this time last week.
“We went to Tiverton with eight first team players missing, then I had to try and win the game at Highworth while making sure I didn’t risk key players ahead of the Hereford game and at the same time giving playing time to some who needed it.
“I always want to win games, and that goes for every cup competition, but I hope people understand where we are as a squad and that there is also a bigger picture here.”