"We need to be at our absolute best," says St Ives boss ahead of FA Cup clash with Halifax

St Ives play in the Southern League Premier Central, two levels lower than Halifax, and have reached the fourth qualifying round of the FA Cup for the first time in their history, winning three games already in the competition.

"I was really happy with the draw," said Marheineke, who has managed the club for nine years.

"At this stage you've got to have a really good draw to progress but there's so many big clubs in it that I wanted it to be a good occasion, especially for the supporters, who don't get many of these days.

"So a big club at home was what we really wanted, so I was really pleased for the chairman, the supporters, we've got an ex-Halifax player in our team and a couple of lads who've never played at this stage before, so it's a big occasion for them.

"It's definitely the biggest game in terms of the opposition we've played.

"The biggest game in the club's history was probably the play-off final, where you've got an opportunity of gaining promotion.

"But in terms of the stature, the competition, the opposition, the FA Cup, this will be the biggest memory, it's certainly the biggest club coming to play us in a competitive fixture and it will be a great day, a great occasion and we're looking forward to it."

Marheineke took over at St Ives when they had just been promoted into step four and has won the Hunts Senior Cup twice and guided them to promotion to step three, the highest level in their history.

They're sixth in the table, one place outside the play-offs, having won five of their first ten games of the season.

"We've been OK, we've won some we should have lost, we've lost some we should have won, but to have 16 points from 10 games in a really competitive league with a small squad and a small budget, we're happy with where we're at," he said.

"We've had a lot of games in the last two weeks and we've started to pick up injuries, but the start has been good, levels of performance have been mainly OK and where we'd want them to be.

"But form and league position and results when you're going into a one-off game in the FA Cup all go out of the window."

When asked what his game plan for the match will be, Marheineke said: "We're just going to enjoy the game.

"We could go and try to stay in it, and try to frustrate them, and ask them questions to try and break us down and play on the counter - there's lots of things we could do and lots of things we probably should do.

"But the boys have started the league really well playing one way so we're just going to play the way we have all season.

"Even if we change our game-plan, we still have to be at 100 per cent and Halifax have to be somewhere around 60 per cent for us to get a result.

"It's going to be a huge cup upset if we do manage to pull it off, but we're just going to enjoy the occasion, play the way we've played all season and if that's good enough on the day to get us through then that'll be an unbelievable achievement.

"If it's not then we've had a good run and hopefully a good day.

"We're honest, they're a close-knit group, they won't ever throw the towel in, and they'll run, they're a team prepared to work hard for each other, they're a team that is prepared to work hard for results.

"I expect them to do that again.

"We've played a number of different formations this year, a number of different styles depending on the opposition, to try and exploit weaknesses.

"So I wouldn't say we've got a certain way of playing, it's very adaptable within the formations we play.

"But Saturday will just be a game where we try and win the game."

Town boss Chris Millington said Maidstone's 3G pitch played a big part in The Shaymen's below-par performance in last Saturday's 1-1 draw, and that he wanted his side to learn lessons from the experience.

They will play on another 3G pitch on Saturday at St Ives' Westwood Road ground.

"We're definitely better on that surface, there's no getting away from that," said Marheineke.

"We went away to Belper on Saturday (in the FA Trophy, losing on penalties after a 1-1 draw) and we were poor, because we couldn't deal with playing on grass.

"It was very slow, and our away form, especially last season, was really poor and our home form is very good.

"It's different when you're full-time and you've got your own training facility but teams at our level, I think we're one of eight teams in our league that have got a 3G - we train on 3G every week, most teams at our level train on 3G, so at our level most players are used to it.

"As you go up through the leagues, they've got grass pitches and grass training facilities, which is maybe where they struggle.

"If they struggle on it that's probably due to their circumstances but we'll just go out and enjoy the game."

This is arguably a good time for St Ives to be playing Halifax, with The Shaymen 20th in the National League having won just three of their first 13 games this season.

"It would have been a worse time to play them I think had they not beaten York, got a point at Maidstone and sacked the manager," said Marheineke.

"There's never a good time to play a team at that level.

"You look at the league table and you say, OK, maybe for a club like Halifax and the expectation of the supporters, they should be doing better.

"But to take four points, and to be within a few minutes of beating Maidstone, so potentially six from the last two games, they're not in bad form are they in the last seven days.

"They're still a full-time club, they're still a huge club, they're still an ex-Football League club, and compared to little old St Ives, who are probably punching above our weight at step three, I've said to everyone let's not get carried away, we need to be at our absolute best and Halifax need to have a really, really poor day at the office for us to get anything."

Former Halifax striker Jonathan Edwards, who scored three goals in 33 league games for Town during the 2018-19 campaign, is among the squad at St Ives.

"He's huge for us," said Marheineke, "but he's injured, so we're not sure he's going to feature in the game.

"He came off against Ilkeston last Tuesday after 15 minutes, he's got an ankle problem.

"We've had it scanned but the swelling was too much.

"At the moment he's doubtful, but he's got 10 in 13 games this season so he's been phenomenal.

"His goalscoring record in and around our level for the last three or four seasons has been brilliant, almost a goal a game.

"He's a big player for us, we're hoping he's going to be fit, not only for the team but for him personally because he'd like to play and it's a fairytale if he was to go and score the winner."

Edwards isn't St Ives' only injury doubt going into the game.

"Kane Lewis (defender) missed out on Saturday, we had to leave him out of the squad because he came off against Ilkeston with an impact injury on his hip," said Marheineke..

"He's 50-50 for the game.

"Greg Kaziboni (midfielder) missed the last two games with a hamstring problem.

"We gave him 15 minutes on Saturday, we're just waiting to see if he's had any reaction.

"Michael Richens and Dylan Williams (midfielders) were both left out on Saturday, both carrying knocks.

"When you've got a squad of 16, 17 players and five carrying injuries, it dies massively affect the group.

"But we always say that's what you've got a squad for and someone's disappointment is somebody else's opportunity.

"Whatever squad we've got I know they'll give 100 per cent and they'll do the club and the supporters proud."

St Ives are expecting a crowd of around 650, up from their normal attendance of around 200.

When asked what his message to his players will be before the match, Marheineke said: "It's a free hit.

"When you're the Halifax manager looking at the fixture you're probably thinking 'oh no, what a banana skin', whereas we're looking at it thinking 'if we can pull this off, it's brilliant'.

"We're 90 minutes away, it's 11 men versus 11 men, anything can happen in the FA Cup.

"I know these players, having had them since the beginning of pre-season, we've only got a squad of 17 players, but they're the most honest, hard-working group of players that will never throw the towel in.

"I know they're expecting it to be a proper battle, but I know they'll give everything."