Manager Glenn Pennyfather is looking forward to focussing entirely on City’s bid to reach the Blue Square Bet Premier for next season, though he believes this Saturday’s 3:00pm kick-off at Basingstoke Town represents a very difficult obstacle to the Clarets’ immediate progress.

City went out of the FA Cup on TV at Macclesfield Town in midweek but its back to domestic action on Saturday and Monday as City travel to the Camrose before taking on Boreham Wood away from home on Monday night. Pennyfather said the team have been prepared for this situation for some time and they want to press on with their priorities.

“It was always going to come to that,” he explained. “We enjoyed the exposure in the FA Cup while it lasted but now it’s time to refocus and try and cement our place as high in the table as we can. The players understand that the league has always been our main goal and how difficult a weekend this is going to be both physically and mentally.”

Basingstoke are going well in eighth position in the table with identical home and away records – winning four, drawing three and losing twice. They were defeated by a single 8th-minute penalty at home to second placed Welling United on Tuesday night but they preceded that with two good FA Trophy wins against Sutton United and Didcot Town.

They could meet a City side wracked with injury once more as Glenn hopes some players can be nursed back to fitness. Central midfielders David Rainford and Max Cornhill came through their involvement at Macclesfield on Wednesday night largely unscathed though winger Ricky Modeste is likely to be missing again and attacker Cliff Akurang is struggling.

He also wants to see injured wide midfielder Warren Whitely return to action as soon as possible to continue his decent form, adding: “He’s an important player and we need him back. The boy’s a threat going forward and he puts in a lot of hard graft, both when attacking and when defending. We’ll have to test our squad to the full this weekend.”

“Basingstoke are going to be a tough proposition and Welling had to do well to win there recently. We’ve got to go there and perform as it would be easy to use the FA Cup as an excuse but we’re not going to do that. We’re back to normality now and there can be no blues as the best way to recover is through honesty and winning three points.”

Basingstoke Town: Address: The Camrose, Western Way, Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG22 6EZ. Phone: (01256) 327575. Position Last Season: 13th in the Blue Square Bet South. Miles from Chelmsford: 101. Approx. Journey Time: 2 hours, 20 minutes. Nickname: The Dragons. Team Colours: Blue & Yellow. Ground Capacity: 6,000 (2,000 Covered Terracing). Seats: 651. Official Website: www.basingstoketown.net.

Travel Club Coach: This is quickly filling up and will depart the Clubhouse at 11:00am and opposite the County Hotel at 11:15am. The return fare will be £12 for adults and £8 for under 16s and details on seat availability can be obtained from Mark Fleming on (07506) 873741.

Directions to The Camrose: Exit the M25 at Junction 12 and join the M3. Exit the M3 at Junction 7 (A30) then follow the dual carriageway to a mini-roundabout, which you should go ‘straight over’. Coming to a larger roundabout, take the second exit onto Western Way and the ground’s car park is fifty yards on the right. Nearest Train Station: Basingstoke (1.6 miles).

Weather Forecast: Sunny Intervals. 4 degrees Celsius. Wind 13 mph.

Blue Square Bet Odds: Basingstoke Town 7/5, Draw 12/5, Chelmsford City 6/4. Do you fancy a flutter? Then visit www.bluesq.com/fans where you can register to earn money for the Clarets when you open a brand new Blue Square account.

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