MICHAEL Cheek believes the confidence Braintree Town have taken from their mid-week win against Sutton United will boost their FA Trophy chances on Saturday.

Cheek notched his tenth Vanarama National League goal of the season in the Iron’s 1-0 win against Sutton as they bounced back from the disappointment of a defeat by Chester last weekend.

It means they can travel to East Thurrock United with confidence on Saturday for an FA Trophy second round tie against the National League South side.

Cheek said: “It’s the Road to Wembley – everyone wants to be there and this is a chance for us.

“I’m sure we’ll put out a strong side and look to get through to the next round.

“I have played against East Thurrock before in my career, but it doesn’t matter that they are in a league below us as we have to approach it as we would any other game.

“We will have confidence after beating Sutton, though, and we’ll be looking to get ourselves through.

“It’s a break from the league, but it will be nice to have a run in this one.”

Manager Hakan Hayrettin, who won the trophy as a player with Wycombe Wanderers in 1993, knows the importance of the competition and is in no doubt about his team’s goal against the Rocks.

“We’re not going there to enjoy it, we’re going to win it,” he said.

“I’ve been there and I know what this competition means.

“I have won it as a player under Martin O’Neil as my manager and I’m looking forward to this one now.

“John Coventry (Thurrock boss) has done a fantastic job at East Thurrock where he’s worked his way up and done an unbelievable job for them.

“It will be a tough game and it’s not going to be easy.

“So the only mentality we can have is to win.

“That’s all we can do – win.

“It’s the same as we have in the league.

“It’s important for us to keep the momentum, to keep driving and doing the things that have got us points.

“We want to win.”

Braintree follow the FA Trophy tie on Saturday with a trip to Chelmsford City on Monday (kick-off 7.30pm) in the quarter-finals of the Essex Senior Cup.

Hayrettin said he may look to make a few changes in personnel for the two cup trips, but insisted that it would be a strong Iron side that faced East Thurrock.

He said: “We welcome it and it will give me a chance to look at some people in the squad.

“We then have the Chelmsford game that will give me another chance to look at people, but we won’t put out a weakened team against East Thurrock because we want to win.

“If you don’t have any socks, you can’t pull them up; well we have socks and we have different coloured ones so we will use them.

“I will make changes.

“Alex Henshall is one.

“You haven’t seen Alex too much yet, but he will play.

“He’s a joy to watch.

“He came on against Chester and I thought he was fantastic for ten minutes.

“Also there’s (Millwall loanee) Kyron Fallon and Ebou Adams is back from his suspension and we have these players in contention so I will probably play them.”