Key duo miss FA Cup replay

Sidley United will be without influential players Chris Agutter and Dominic Clarke for their FA Cup replay tonight (Wednesday).

Having scored a late equaliser in the original preliminary round tie away to Greenwich Borough on Saturday, striker Clarke will miss the return at Hailsham Town FC because of a pre-arranged trip to London.

Agutter, meanwhile, is expected to be sidelined for at least a fortnight with tendonitis in his ankles and a swollen calf caused by a cyst behind his knee which burst.

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His absence means that Sidley will have to break up the central midfield trio of Agutter, Matt Darby and Billy Trickett which has been a feature of the sides they’ve fielded over the past few weeks.

Although without Agutter and Clarke, Sidley will still be in confident mood as they attempt to win two FA Cup matches in the same season for the first time in their history.

The Blues won their FA Cup extra preliminary round matches in the 2005/06, 2006/07 and 2008/09 campaigns only to be knocked out in the preliminary round on all three occasions.

Assistant manager Jamie Podmore said: “We feel it’s definitely winnable for us, but they might feel the same having seen us. We know we can give a lot more (than in Saturday’s encounter).”

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Sidley have won two and lost two of their four Sussex County Football League Division One games to date, while Greenwich have won one and lost two in the equivalent-standing Kent Premier Division.

At stake for the winners is £1,750 from the FA’s prize fund and an attractive-looking first round qualifying tie at home to Ryman League Premier Division outfit Cray Wanderers on Saturday September 8.

Kick-off at The Beaconsfield is 7.45pm. A summary of the match will appear on this website tomorrow morning, while you can get half time and full time score updates by following @SimonNewstead on Twitter.