Manager Lee Fisher wants his Braintree Town Reserves players to embrace the opportunity ahead of them as they try to book their place in a cup final.

The Young Irons have a chance to make it into the final of the Thurlow Nunn League First Division Knockout Cup tonight when they host Wisbech St Mary at the IronmongeryDirect Stadium.

It will be the second meeting between the two sides in less than a week, with Braintree beating tonight's opponents 2-1 in the league on Wednesday.

They followed that with an excellent performance against league leaders Woodbridge Town on Saturday and although they lost 1-0 - with the Woodpeckers edging it with a late goal - Fisher is looking forward to a strong cup showing.

He said: "I said to the lads that their performance against Woodbridge was fantastic and that's what they have to look at.

"We felt the result did not reflect the performance, but we now have to lift ourselves up and we'll come back on Tuesday night fighting to get into that final.

"It's a big game and one we're looking forward to.

"Fingers crossed we can get into it.

“The boys deserve to be there and I really hope they get the chance.

“With the success we have had this season already, for players and us as a management team, our aim is to get to the cup final and that in itself would be a great success.

“We want to get into the final - that is the plan - and it would be excellent considering we have a team that’s had an average age of just 19 over the last few months.

“The lads have bought into what we have said to them and how we want them to play.

“They really do deserve to be in that final.

“We’ve had a tough cup run to get here and Wisbech are a difficult side to face, but with the players we have, we know it is achievable.

“It’s only our second season in senior football as a management team and having a cup final like that on our CV would be a great thing to move forward with.”