Liam McDonald wants Rushall Olympic to pick it up in FA Cup

Although the Pics have only lost two of their opening six Southern Central matches, manager Liam McDonald is seeking a big improvement from his charges when the Pics visit the Royals tomorrow (3pm).

“We’ve not reached the levels that I expect from this group so far,” he said. “It happens, football is like a book; it has a start, middle and end and the start doesn’t always define what will happen in the middle or at the end.

“We have to be strong to come through it and be able to kick on.

“I was really pleased with our performance against Biggleswade Town last weekend. We dominated for long periods and it was our best display of the season, it’s just a pity that we had to settle for a share of the spoils in the end.

“That said, we showed what we are capable of and the aim now is to build upon it and begin a winning run on Saturday.

“It will tough because Sutton Coldfield are a good side. We know what to expect from them and what we have to do to get through.

“We’ll be ready for the challenge.”

Rushall exited one cup on Tuesday – going down 4-3 to Redditch United in the Southern League Challenge Cup, a match that saw Orrin Pendley red-carded.

Should they win tomorrow, it would extend the Pics’ run of reaching at least the second qualifying round, as they have done in each of the last five seasons.

“It’s the FA Cup and anything can happen, but I am confident in the ability that we have here,” added McDonald. “The lads know what I expect from them and where we want to be.

“Despite not being at our best so far we’ve lost just two of our six League games and if we can add FA Cup progress to that then it’s not a bad record for a team that hasn’t got going yet.”