Despite our preference for the tie to take place on Tuesday 21st February we accepted the decision due to Brighton having an U21 league game on the Monday night. We were then informed that Brighton did not agree to the Wednesday date on a player welfare basis...

However, Brighton didn't seem to have this same issue when they played Leicester City last Monday and Burgess Hill two days later.

We then offered to host the fixture on the week commencing 27th February which would result in our Isthmian League game vs Sevenoaks having to be postponed.

Today the Sussex FA have ordered the tie to take place at The Sportsfield on Thursday 23rd February. This now means we would have less than 48 hours before our league fixture vs Ashford Utd.

If the competition committee agrees a full-time club (with a large playing squad) can’t play two games in 48 hours due to player welfare then you can’t expect a part-time club to play with 44 hours difference.

We are baffled by this disappointing decision made by the Sussex FA. With such a big game at Ashford to focus on, we will now consider whether this Senior Cup tie will even be a first team fixture for us.