Dartford boss Tony Burman is relishing Saturday’s upcoming FA Cup first round tie at Bromley and insists it is not a distraction from trying to maintain their Conference Premier status.
Burman has seen his side drop into the relegation zone after no wins in six league games, with their only victory during that run coming in the final FA Cup qualifying round against Burgess Hill.
It is the third time Dartford have reached the first round proper in the previous five years, after having not previously qualified since the 1989-1990 season.
Burman said: “I do not see it as a distraction at all, everyone wants to stay in the FA Cup.
“The financial rewards are that great for a part-time side and we will endeavour to move on into the next round.
“It is taken seriously, like it should be, and as I said, everybody wants to stay in the FA Cup for as long as they can.”
A visiting Dartford side were beaten comprehensively at Grimsby on Saturday, as a Carl Magnay strike and a late Lenell John-Lewis penalty bookended a Nathan Arnold goal in a 3-0 win.
Dartford face the unusual prospect of going into the Bromley game as favourites, with Bromley playing their football a league below in the Conference South.
But Burman maintains nothing will change in his side’s build-up going into the Hayes Lane match.
He explained: “The preparations will be exactly the same, we will build-up and train as best we can for the Bromley game.
“I felt we prepared well for the Grimsby match but the result did not go our way.
“I am looking for a much improved performance from the players than what they showed on Saturday.”
Burman will be hoping to match Dartford’s best ever run in the FA Cup when they reached the third round in the 1935-36 season, but insists he is not getting drawn into potential next round opponents just yet.
He said: “I think we need to get this one result first before we can think about the second round.
“We need to perform better than we did on Saturday, that is for sure.
“Up until the Grimsby game we played reasonably well and I think the boys have been unfortunate not to have many wins under their belts.
“But I felt they had let their standards drop in the performance at Grimsby.”
Follow @NewsShopperSprt on Twitter for live updates from Bromley v Dartford on Saturday
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