Paul McNally is excited for City of Liverpool’s historic FA Trophy encounter away at Buxton – as the Purps look to upset the National League North side.
City of Liverpool equalled their best-ever performance in the competition when they beat higher opposition Stamford, in the previous round.
For the first time since the 2020-21 season, the Purps reached the second round proper – that year they were dumped by Darlington after beating Buxton in the first round.
McNally’s side have enjoyed an upturn in results and performances as they’ve slowly risen up the Northern Premier League West table, after their involvement in this year’s FA Trophy put their league campaign on hold.
The National League North side have had a tough start to the season, following a strong first run in the sixth-tier of English football.
Buxton go into the encounter on the back of a home defeat to Farsley Celtic, while City of Liverpool have experience in overcoming higher-level opponents. Saturday poses an opportunity that McNally is looking forward to.
“It’s a good opportunity to test ourselves against a team that are two levels above us, it’s an opportunity to see where we are. It’s not a day out but see where it takes us and enjoy it,” he told Off The Park.
“They’re a good side, they’re playing at that level for a reason, they’ve got top quality players so I think it will be down to what happens on the day. There’s a lot of factors that can determine the outcome and we’re hoping they go our way and they have a really off day.
“It doesn’t matter who we play, cup games are always exciting whoever you play. We’ve done our homework on them, they’ve done their homework on us, we don’t have any fear, we’re going to their ground and it’s a game we’re prepared for, hopefully the elements go in our favour.”
[Featured Image: City of Liverpool]
