Gary Hackett: Stourbridge relishing the opportunity

The Glassboys are looking to take another step toward promotion by beating the Generals and reaching the play-off final.

Hackett's men fought tooth and nail to reach the four-team end-of-season shoot-out, only securing the final position with Saturday's 1-1 draw at Hitchin.

But the manager revealed celebrations after the final whistle were mooted, with the players re-focusing their attentions on tonight.

"It's interesting because even though we reached the play-offs on Saturday it was a very quiet coach journey home," he said.

"The players were quiet because they know what we have to do. They know we have not won anything yet.

"We made the play-offs, yes, but there is a far bigger game to be played tonight."

Chesham finished second in the table, the same position as the Glassboys 12 months ago. On that occasion, Hackett's side suffered a heart-breaking 2-1 home defeat to Gosport, who went on to claim promotion.

The parallels of last season are not lost on Hackett but the Stour boss is determined to concentrate on the here and now.

"We can all look at what happened last year," he said. "But we know it's a straight shoot-out with Chesham and I'm sure both of us are going in fully committed.

"I'm not looking too much at what happened last year. It's where we are now that counts."

One thing which will buoy Hackett is Stour's reputation, built over the past few seasons, for generally turning up when it matters. The Glassboys have reached the second round of the FA Cup twice in the past three seasons and have effectively played knockout football over the past few weeks to achieve promotion.

"We tend to turn up in big games and we are capable of doing it again," added Hackett. "The players are relishing it and I'm counting down the hours to kick-off.

"We are really looking forward to it."

Striker Luke Benbow is ruled out through injury though Kristian Ramsey-Dickson is available again.