United Counties League Premier Division North Newark Town manager Luke Parsons hopes for bumper crowd in FA Vase second round tie against Midland League Premier Division leaders Lichfield

Newark Town manager Luke Parsons has called on locals to get behind his side on one of the biggest days in the club’s history.

Town, third in United Counties League Premier Division North, take on Midland League Premier Division leaders Lichfield in the FA Vase second round on Saturday (3pm).

It’s the Blues’ first appearance at this stage of the competition and Parsons is hoping for a big crowd at the Newark YMCA.

“We’ve never been in this round before, and we’re playing Lichfield who’ve got a big fanbase,” said Parsons.

“They average 200-300 every home game so they’ll be coming across in numbers.

“For us, it’s not let the occasion get the better of us, let’s carry on what we’ve been doing all season, which is playing our way, focusing on ourselves and hopefully we’ll have a big crowd come out to support us.

“Hopefully, being the last team in Newark left in the Vase, and where it’s the furthest we’ve been, the fans will be out in numbers and give these lads the support they deserve because they’ve been incredible.

“I’d like to break the 300 barrier.

“The Vase is a national cup and with them bringing a few as well, we should really, at this stage, be attracting a big crowd.”

It’s a clash of two good sides, with both flying high in their respective leagues.

Parsons has done his homework and would love to make more history in what’s been a year to remember for Newark as a club.

“They’re top of the Midlands League but they’ve only won one of the last five or six, but they’ve had cup games and rotated players, as most teams do,” said Parsons.

“It’s nice to see how we are, where we fare against other teams who aren’t in our league, that we probably know a little bit less about.

“Ultimately, it’s to try and put the United Counties League on the map as well because it’s the league we play under and we’ll see what the difference in standard is between the two leagues.

“I get my own videos and my own analysis on every team we play.

“They play on 3G, the same as us, so there’s no advantage there but they’ve got a clear style of play.

“It’s down to what we do but, as I always do, I look at other teams and try to pick out where the weaknesses are and nullify the strengths.

“It makes us proud to have got this far.

“It’s the third bit of history this year, along with playing at Step 5 for the first time and going a club-record 14 games unbeaten.

“This is the furthest we’ve been in the Vase and I don’t want it to end now.

“I want it to carry on and I want to see how far we can go and mix it with the best Step 5 teams in the country.”

One man who won’t feature against Lichfield is Josh Randall, who’s been posted to the Falklands with the RAF.

Randall, who scored a first-half hat-trick as the Blues beat AFC Mansfield 4-3 in the first qualifying round back in August, is set to return in February.

“He made us aware in pre-season he was going,” said Parsons.

“He had a really sharp start to the season, then he had a couple of injuries and we kind of always had it in the back of our minds that he was going.

“We obviously wanted to include him and keep him playing but ultimately we needed to make sure we’ve got the replacement there.

“His game time has not been as much as he wanted over the last two or three weeks, what with us knowing what the craic is, but he’s understood that and we’ve managed to keep everybody happy and not lose anybody else.

“If we were playing Josh all this time and he ends up leaving and someone else hasn’t been playing, they might have moved on and you end up being two down.

“We’ve had to manage that situation. He should be back in February and I look forward to seeing him when he returns.”