SHRIVENHAM boss Gareth Davies hopes the FA Vase can hand his stuttering side an injection of confidence following their midweek collapse at home to Brimscombe & Thrupp.

Shrivvy, 3-0 up in the first half against the Gloucestershire side on Tuesday, contrived to lose 5-3 in their Hellenic League Premier Division clash which followed a narrow 2-1 home defeat to Abingdon United last weekend.

Davies admits those blows have left his men reeling as they prepare to host Badshot Lea in the second qualifying round of the Vase, although his squad will be boosted by the return of four players on Saturday, with Ryan Stanners, Luke Cordery, Matty Horsell and Jamie Prictor all available.

“It might be a welcome break, I think, because in the last couple of games, we’ve not really been at the races,’’ said the manager.

“To throw a three-goal lead away on Tuesday and come out with nothing from it was criminal - the players know it as well.

“We can take our mind off the league and go into it (the Vase game) with a positive attitude. We can go into it open-minded and hopefully get our name into the hat for the next round.’’

He added: “I think we will be a bit more of a squad on Saturday. We were down to the bare bones on Tuesday but that’s not an excuse.

“In the first 40 minutes, I thought we were outstanding and made them (Brimscombe) look very ordinary, but confidence is a little bit shot at the minute and we conceded just at the wrong time, two minutes before the break.

“They got their tails up and you could see they were going to come at us in the second half.’’

There are FA Vase ties for more local sides tomorrow, with Royal Wootton Bassett Town hosting Bashley and Malmesbury Victoria at home to Virginia Water.

New College make the trip to Baffins Milton Rovers.

Meanwhile, in the Hellenic League Premier Division, bottom-of-the-table Fairford Town’s hunt for a first league win of the season will continue at Cinder Lane as they host top-of-the-table Ascot United.