Chasetown FC’s Ben Jevons believes his side’s indifferent league form will mean nothing when the Scholars run out for their FA Trophy quarter-final against Mansfield.
The goalscoring midfielder will be one of the key figures on Saturday (February 26) when Charlie Blakemore’s men look to move a step closer to a dream Wembley final.
But with just one point picked up in their last three league outings, Chasetown’s form hasn’t lived up to the high standard of their performances in the FA Trophy.
However, Jevons remains confident that the giant-killing Scholars will be back on the field on Saturday. He explained:
“We haven’t really spoken about the Mansfield game that much because we have had some massive league games and we have been fully commited to those, but now it’s the next game and it takes centre stage in our thoughts.
“In the league we had a great start but all the postponements affected us. However, the games we’ve lost we haven’t been smashed out of sight and have always been in the game. If someone had offered us where we are now with 16 games left playing mostly teams below us we would have taken it.
“But he league form goes out of the window anyway now as previous rounds show. Grimsby and Eastleigh are both fighting for promotion in their relevant leagues and Kettering and Workington were also both doing well in their league so it really doesn’t matter apart from the key 90 minutes on the day.”
The Chasetown cause hasn’t been helped by a spate of injuries either.
Richard Teesdale and Gary Birch are both facing a race to be fit, while Jevons’ sparring partner Dave Egan is definitely out with a fractured wrist.
And although Egan’s departure means Jevons will win a friendly bet, he believes the Scholars will miss him. He told The Lichfield Blog:
“It’s a massive shame he can’t play in this game. I am really missing the lad out on the pitch but being out injured is part of the game. It does means I’m going to win our goalscoring bet because I’m so far ahead!
“But on a serious note a team will always miss one of their best players and he’s one of ours.”
Although reaching the semi-final of the FA Trophy would require the Scholars to pull another giant-killing act out of the bag, Mansfield will be all too aware that Chasetown have form in that area.
With wins against Grimsby Town, Kettering Town, Workington and Eastleigh under their belts this season to go alongside previous famous victories against the likes of Port Vale under manager Charlie Blakemore, Jevons believes Scholars fans have every reason to think the unthinkable.
He explained:
“As soon as we heard the draw we knew it had been kind to us because on our home patch we feel we can beat anyone to be honest.
“With this FA Trophy run, every game we have played since the Mickleover game – which seems ages ago – has been my biggest. We have knocked out some big teams who are full time and we have enjoyed every minute of the run.
“It has been great for the club and hopefully there will be another good result for us on Saturday.”
Chasetown’s game against Mansfield kicks off at 3pm at the Scholars Ground. For ticket information, call 01543 682222.