CUNNY’S BOYS ARE BUCKING THE TREND
STEVE Cunningham has challenged his Buxton players to be top of the Northern Premier League by the time their colossal FA Cup clash arrives. The Bucks are the lowest-ranked team left in the competition after upsetting higher-league York City last weekend. They were rewarded with a home tie against League One club Morecambe which has been chosen for broadcast by the BBC.
But the Derbyshire-based side quickly refocused on their promotion mission by beating Atherton Collieries on Tuesday night. New boss Cunningham wants Buxton to be in top form when Morecambe come to town.
“Our sole focus this year is the league, they really want promotion,” Cunningham told The NLP. “We can’t be derailed by FA Cup fever. When that game comes around I’d like to think we’ll be sitting top of the league. “Hopefully we’ll be going into it with momentum and confidence and, hopefully, that’ll be the opposite for Morecambe. “Not many teams will want to come and play on our 3G pitch. It’s a fantastic facility and we’re used to the surface. We’ll give Morecambe a few questions to answer but we’re massive underdogs no matter who we pulled out.” Cunningham, the former Curzon Ashton boss, was appointed only last week with his first game in charge being their victory at York.
“It was a fantastic achievement for the football club,” he said. “On a personal level it was a bit difficult because we’ve just come into the job and the lads had already got themselves there.
“Me and Damian (Crossley, assistant) only played a small part with the two training sessions we had. We tweaked the shape and went a different way. In the two games we’ve played now we look so solid.
“It feels like we’ve been there a long time already, the players have accepted me and Damian into the camp really well. By the time it does come round we’ll have had plenty of games and know the players inside-out.” Cunningham is also hoping that he will have a bigger squad to choose from in the second round. “We’re down to 12 bodies at the moment, the younger lads are supplementing the bench,” he added. “Ashley chambers has been our only senior sub and James Hurst has come on injured. “We’re going to have a look at getting a couple in to top up the squad, even if it’s just loans. We don’t want to disrupt the squad too much – these lads have shown they’re more than capable.”