TERRY SPILLANE believes the FA Cup First Qualifying Round derby clash with Heybridge Swifts will be one of the toughest games to date during his time at Maldon & Tiptree.
Spillane's men needed a replay at Barking on Tuesday night to book their place in the next round, and set up a tie with their neighbours on September 14.
Glen Golby's goal was enough for Maldon to overcome the Essex Senior League side after a 1-1 draw in the first game at Park Drive on Saturday.
Heybridge eased through with a 3-0 win at Basildon United, and Spillane is pleased to have set up the clash.
"We got through in the end," he said. "We made hard work of it I suppose, but we got there in the end, kept a clean sheet and did what we had to do, so we're very pleased.
"Heybridge were there on Tuesday night, they came to see it. No doubt they're going to be just as excited as we are.
"It's a shame really that we've got to play them this early, but it'll cause a bit of excitement.
"It'll be a tough game, especially in the FA Cup. They're always tight games anyway when we play Swifts, so I'm not expecting anything different.
"It's probably going to be our toughest game since I've been at the club, but we're looking forward to it."
Before that though, the Blues face Waltham Forest at home on Saturday and then Aveley away on Monday night as they switch their focus back on to the league campaign.
But Spillane is relishing what will be a tough month for his side – and is able to call on reinforcements as he welcomes a couple of players back from injury.
"I'm always confident of winning at home," he said of the Waltham Forest game. "I know a couple of the guys there and they've signed 13 or 14 players this week, so I know absolutely nothing about their team. It'll be a tough game, no doubt about that.
"Aveley will be a tough game away from home, he's always got a good side there Justin [boss, Gardner], very attacking, they score lots of goals.
"We've got a tough month coming up, we've got those two, VCD Athletic, Redbridge.
"We were talking about it on Tuesday after the game with the players, it's a very tough month.
"We'll be using all the squad. We've got Chris Bryan and Lee Boylan coming back from injury, so we're looking forward to the month, it'll be a tough test and we'll see how we are coming out of it. Chris has been out since the Ware game last season.
"He came on on Saturday for ten minutes, we didn't use him on Tuesday because we didn't want to gamble on him but he'll be involved on Saturday, that's for sure."
