Bulls boss hopes FA Cup run can boost league chances

Elliot Powell is beginning his second full season in charge at Springfield

Jersey Bulls manager Elliot Powell hopes an FA Cup run can keep his newly-promoted side hungry for success.

The islanders will play in Isthmian League South East this season - the first time they have reached the eighth tier of English football.

It came after winning the Combined Counties Premier South play-offs last season when they stepped away from the FA Cup.

They begin their season with the visit of Erith and Belvedere to Springfield in Saturday's extra preliminary round.

"We decided to not enter the cup last year based on the fact that we wanted to focus on the league and obviously that's paid off for us," Powell told BBC Radio Jersey.

"This year we've got very different ambitions in terms of the league, so it's important that we have cup competitions, especially if we're where we expect to be in the league - it might not be in the play-off race come the end of the season.

"Hopefully we can have a cup run that that keeps us going and keeps us highly motivated throughout the season."

None of the Jersey Bulls squad made the trip to the Island Games earlier this month so they could fully focus on the forthcoming season.

Bulls have largely kept the squad which took them up, aside from striker Kurtis Guthrie who has moved to Scottish club Queen of the South, having returned home towards the end of last season.

But having been one of the best sides in their division over the past few seasons, Powell says it is important both players and fans approach the new league with a sense of realism.

"I still expect us to win games of football and ultimately if we don't, we're going to be right down where we don't want to be," added Powell, who saw Channel Island rivals Guernsey FC get relegated from the same tier last season.

"I'd love to be top half. I think top half will be a really, really good achievement in year one," he added.

"This year's sort of a fact-finding mission really for us, find out what it takes to get promoted at step four.

"We'd had four or five years of gathering intel and data on step five and we put that into practice last year.

"Hopefully we won't need it as long at step four, but it's unrealistic to expect us just to fly through."