Rushall Olympic aiming to show their mettle against The Iron
Just a few years ago, who would have thought Rushall Olympic would be going head-to-head with Scunthorpe United in a league clash? Certainly not boss Liam McDonald.
Yet tomorrow the Pics host the Iron, who crashed out of the EFL in 2022. Scunthorpe suffered another drop, out of the National League last term, while Rushall were promoted to the National League North via the play-offs.
And despite the tough test approaching, manager McDonald is looking forward to the occasion and hopes his side can cause an upset.
Rushall have got off to a rocky start at step two, with one draw and two losses from their opening three games. Meanwhile, unbeaten Scunthorpe are the early league leaders with two wins and a draw.
And McDonald said: “Even from when I took over at the club, if someone had said we’d be playing Scunthorpe in the league, I wouldn’t have believed it. It just shows how far the football club has come.
“It’s always going to be difficult for the size of our football club to compete with these teams.
“We’ve got a great opportunity tomorrow, there will be a big crowd which will be massive for the football club. We’re going to go and enjoy it, and you never know if we have that bit of luck and things just fall for us on the day.
“We’re in the same league as Scunthorpe and we have every right. We’re at the same level and we want to be competitive.
“It’s just making sure we’re not overawed on the day.”
The Pics boss hopes that his side can produce a few surprises this season, as he and the players have no doubts over how tough it’ll be.
“We know it’s going to be tough this season, we’re fully aware of that. But we want to give it a good go,” said McDonald.
“We’re going to lose a lot of games this season but we’re going to win some as well. We’ve got every confidence that we can surprise the country and stay up. We have seen numerous things, we’re favourites to go down, none of it’s positive. One thing that we are is realistic, we weren’t coming into this season thinking we can go and win it. The players understand what the journey is going to look like. There’s going to be lots of ups and downs, and probably more downs. It’s probably the first time as a manager that I’ve been at a club where we’re expected every week to get beat. It’s new for all of us. We’re going to work really hard.”
Elsewhere, Kidderminster Harriers host Bromley in the National League looking to bounce back from midweek defeat to Fylde.
Stafford Rangers welcome F.C. United of Manchester as the Rangers search for their first Northern Premier League win of the season, while Stourbridge entertain Barwell in the Southern Premier Central and Halesowen Town visit Kettering Town.
Meanwhile, in the FA Cup preliminary round, Sporting Khalsa host Heanor Town, Chasetown visit Boldmere St Michaels, Walsall Wood go to Rugby Borough and Hednesford take on Darlaston away from home.
