CARL Withers praised his Bracknell Town players for showing “resilience and character” when turning a half-time deficit into a 3-2 win at Hanwell last Saturday.
And he and co-manager Jamie McClurg will be looking for the same two traits and plus a big more when the Robins take on National League club Altrincham in the fifth round of the FA Trophy at Sandhurst’s Bottom Meadow this Saturday (3pm ko).

Forgetting third-round FA Cup opponents Ipswich, this should prove Town’s toughest test of the season so far. On paper, the Southern League Premier South side are the outsiders of the 16 clubs remaining in the competition that leads to Wembley, as 12 play in the National League, and three in the North and South divisions.

But the Robins have beaten South Division sides Tonbridge Angels, Eastbourne Borough and Bath City in the Trophy, in addition to knocking North team Banbury United out of the FA Cup, and this underlines their ability to rise to the big occasion which they will need to do so again this week.
They have also been in tremendous form of late, picking up wins that lifted them into the play-off positions.

Altrincham are mid-table in the National League, having lost their last three games. However, in the fourth round, they did cause an upset by knocking out Wrexham, winning 4-3 on penalties after the tie had ended 2-2. The same two sides met again in the league last Saturday with second-in-the-table Wrexham winning 2-1 in a game that was unique as both sides have a manager named Phil Parkinson, with the former Reading FC legend emerging victorious.

The Greater Manchester side are not the best of travellers, having won only twice away in the league although six other trips ended in a draw. Their weakness appears to be in defence with 52 goals conceded, the fourth highest behind Scunthorpe United (59), Maidstone United (68) and Dorking Wanderers (69).  
Bracknell went into their league game with Tiverton last night (Tuesday) looking to follow up their victory at Hanwell last Saturday when four second-half goals in the space of 16  minutes from Gary Abisogun, Darryl Sanders (penalty) and Kamaron English saw them turn the game around after they had fallen behind late in the first half. The hosts reduced the arrears on 80 minutes, but Town held out with skipper Dan Bayliss producing another outstanding performance at the heart of the defence.

“We were not at our best, but the boys dug deep and we came away with three big points,” said Carl Withers. “Resilience, character was the order of the day.”
General admission for the Altrincham game is £15 with tickets available to purchase in advance up to 11.45am on the day.

Ticket sales at the gate from 12.30pm, with concessions (over 65s, NHS, Military, Students) £10 providing ID is shown, and £5 for under-16s.

Bracknell are one of three Berkshire sides involved in the Trophy with Hungerford at home to Farsley Celtic and Maidenhead United hosting FC Halifax, while Aldershot, just over the county border in Hampshire, meet Dorking Wanderers, having defeated them 2-0 in the league last Saturday.