INTERIM Taunton Town boss Rob Dray insists his side will have to be focused from the outset if they are to avoid an FA Cup banana skin for the second season in succession.

Saturday’s second qualifying round opponents Bitton, of the Western League Premier, will travel full of confidence having won every game in all competitions so far this season.

With £9,000 at stake for the victors, Dray’s side will not be taking the challenge lightly.

He told the County Gazette: “They are on a great run and they have enough former Southern League and National League South players to cause us problems.

“We have been on both sides of cup upsets - last season we lost to Tavistock, but the season before we beat Hemel Hempstead on our way to the first round proper.

“No-one wants to be the side getting ribbed about losing to a lower-ranked team so we will have to be focused.

“If we play as we have been and to the best of our ability we will get the right result, but if we are not on it they have some handy players who will know how to put us under pressure.”

Dray and his assistant Matt Villis have ensured there have been no bumps in the road since Leigh Robinson's departure, and the former Bridgwater Town boss is enjoying the responsibility of taking interim charge of the Peacocks.

“It has been a baptism of fire in these past two weeks,” Dray said.

“There was some uncertainty initially but the wins we have had have lifted that uncertainty - and we have players focused on the task at hand.

“Whoever we do end up bringing in has to complement Matt and I and fit in with the dynamic here.

“As we said at the time [when Leigh Robinson and Michael Meaker departed for Truro City], there is not a lot that needs changing.”

Town chairman Kevin Sturmey agrees, and told the County Gazette: “Nothing is broken, we are second in the league and playing well.

“We are exploring avenues regarding bringing someone in, and it’s a ‘when’ rather than an ‘if’, but as I’ve said before they will have to fit in with what we are doing - we have to make sure that any appointment is the right one.

“The players are happy here, the staff are happy and results are good.

“We do not need to reinvent the wheel, it just needs a bit of fine tuning.”

Matt Buse, meanwhile, who last week signed a contract at the Viridor Stadium, has been training full-time with his hometown clubYeovil Town in recent weeks.

Dray said: "We wanted to get Matt tied down.

“He is a very talented young footballer who has come on massively over the last 18 months and is definitely capable of playing at a higher level.

"Training with Yeovil is a great experience for him, especially as he is a Yeovil boy."

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ELSEWHERE this weekend, Wellington are looking to build on "their best win yet" as they travel to Hallen in the Toolstation Western League Premier Division.

A youthful Tangerines side won 2-0 at high-flying Bradford Town last weekend, leading manager Clive Jones to declare: "We were absolutely brilliant - if you can't enjoy days like that you may as well throw your boots in the river.

"I've been at Wellington four years now and that's the best result we've had in my time here.

"The lads who came in did brilliantly - we had four 19-year-olds in our starting line-up and brought a 16 and 17-year-old off the bench.

"Josh [Wadham, scorer of both goals] will get the headlines but as a team we were superb.

"It gives me a selection headache going forwards but I want that - I want to be picking a team rather than the team picking itself.

"We drew twice with Hallen last year and I'm expecting a similarly tough game this weekend."

Wellington are without last weekend's hero Wadham for their next two matches as he is on holiday.

In the Western League First Division, Bishops Lydeard welcome Ashton & Backwell United.

Staplegrove, sitting sixth in the Somerset County League Division 1 table, host third-placed Yatton & Cleeve United on Saturday.