BINFIELD manager Roger Herridge faces selection problems ahead of their FA Cup second qualifying round tie against Cirencester at Hill Farm Lane on Saturday (3pm ko), writes Dave Wright.

Jeff Brown and James Knight miss out due to suspension, there are availability doubts over Sean Moore and Danny Horscroft and a number of others are nursing injuries.

“I’ve got a bit of work to do to make sure we put out a competitive side,” said Herridge, who is predicting that Evo-Stik Southern League side Cirencester will be the strongest opponents his team has met so far this season.

And he has singled out one player who could cause them most problems on Saturday.

He’s Ben Whitehead who scored eight goals in the first seven games this season and boasts an impressive career record of 55 goals from the same number of appearances.

“The boy is very good,” said Herridge about the son of former Reading FC keeper Phil Whitehead. “He is on contract there and is continually being watched. If we are going to win, we will need to stop him, but we will be well prepared for the day,”

The striker bagged a 34-minute hat-trick when Cirencester hammered Stoneham 7-0 in the previous round.

The Moles manager continued: “They are a good side, I would think they will be the best we’ve played against so far. They are looking to get promoted this season.”

The first team plays at semi-professional level in The Evo-Stik Southern League Premier Division, Level 3 of the non-league football pyramid.

“But we have home advantage and all the pressure will be on them,” added Herridge.

The bad news for the hosts is that they will be missing inspirational skipper James Knight and central defender Jeff Brown, both due to suspension.

Binfield had them watched when they played Blackfield & Langley last Saturday. Herridge commented: “They will probably be a bit fresher than us as in their league they don’t play as many games as we do in our league.”

The Centurions are managed by Charle Griffin, who has been at the club since July, 2015.

During his playing career, he was a prolific goalscorer with a number of clubs including Swindon Town, Forest Green Rovers, Stevenage Borough (helping them gain promotion to the Football League) and Gloucester City.

The winners of this tie will earn £9,000 from the FA Cup prize fund.