TADCASTER Albion manager Mick O’Connell is delighted to have drawn Vanarama National League North outfit Chester in the Emirates FA Cup second qualifying round, and hopes the Brewers can welcome a bumper crowd later this month.

After defeating Heaton Stannington 2-1 on Saturday, Tadcaster have drawn Chester in the next round of the FA Cup, with O’Connell side finding form in recent weeks after a slow start in the Northern Counties Eastern League premier division.

O’Connell is hoping that he can get the club back to where it belongs in a project, with the Tadcaster boss hoping the Chester clash can be the start to building a stronger relationship with the community.

“It’s going to be a brilliant day for the club.” O’Connell told the Press.

“The club have been in quite a dark spot for the past few years, so I’m hoping we can attract quite a big crowd on the day.

“We need to prepare for the game like we would any other game, we’ve got a game of football to focus on and our job is to keep the players’ feet on the ground and keep working towards a cup upset.

“We’re not just going to turn up on the 16th and hope it’s not going to be one-way traffic, we’re going to go for the game and counter them, however it may be.

“We’re not going to just take part, we’re going for it and hope we can get an even better game in the next round.

“We’ve been performing really well to be fair. The Pickering game was a bit of a disappointment, I thought we were outstanding for the first 20 minutes and then we gave away three soft goals that didn’t really go our way.

“Our cup form has been brilliant, we’ve had three FA Cup games against very good opposition and have only conceded one goal.

“We’ve proven we can perform properly, but now we need to take that form into the league and pick up points pretty quickly.

“We’re hoping we can get a big crowd and up to 1500 on the day.

“If the weather’s good then I’m hoping we can get a big crowd on the day. The football club needs it, every team wants to get people through the gate and we’re no different, it would put is in a good stead moving forward financially.

“The cup run is very good for the club and it’s given us a little bit of a platform to work on from now until Christmas.

“We’re starting to look like a team now, I believe we’re going in the right direction, we have a really strong group of players and a really strong changing room.

“That’s backed by a really good committee and a brilliant chairman, he lets us get on with it and get on with the football side of the club.

“It’s a big team effort, and we’re all pulling in the same direction. We’re all aiming for the same goal, to get Tadcaster back to where it needs to be.”

If Tadcaster were to defeat Chester, they would match their all-time record for the highest round reached in the FA Cup, something which O’Connell isn’t concerning himself with.

“We’re not really thinking about records or anything at this moment, we’re just trying to win football matches one at a time.

“It’s massive for the football club, but not just for the football club but for the community of Tadcaster because we’ve worked really hard on the pitch and off of the pitch to create that connection between the club and the fans.

“The year Tadcaster won the league, they were averaging 800 a game, now we’re averaging 100 to 200 a game.

“It’s slipped drastically so we need to create that connection between the football club and the local community to try and get people back through the game on a regular basis.

“We want to create that connection for people to come and watch Tadcaster.”