Northampton Town set to give Littlehampton Town a major pre-season test

The League One side will be in town to celebrate the FA Cup tie the two clubs played in November 1990, which Northampton won 4-0.

Golds committee member Steve Bates has organised a reunion for Golds players from that cup run while a large crowd is expected to see today’s Marigolds and Cobblers do battle.

Joint Golds boss Mitch Hand said: "Hopefully we’ll get a decent gate and put in a good performance against a Football League team, who are going to be based at our ground for a few days.

"It’s good to have a league team at the ground – it shows how far we’ve come in terms of the facilities we have to offer. And it’s a game we’re really looking forward to.”

Littlehampton have beaten Pagham but lost to Gosport in their first two pre-season outings – but Hand said the detail of the matches mattered little at this stage.

"The games have been mixed. It is what it is. You have to box it off,” he said.

"It’s just not reality – you’ve got people on holiday, people missing, you never get what you would want as a full squad in any of the pre-season games.

"It’s fair that it’s holiday season for players but it’s frustrating. For me it’s about players getting minutes in their legs and counting down to that first game.

"Now the cup draws have been done and the fixtures come out this week, everything starts to get real. The final two or three pre-season games are when it ramps up.

Squad-wise, the Golds made a number of signings earlier in the summer and Hand and George Gaskin’s squad continues to grow.

Hand said: “Marcel Powell is back with us, which is a massive boost. He was asked to go to a couple of step three clubs but is back with us which we’re over the moon about. He’s looking really sharp.

"Lucas Pattenden has come back to us, on loan from Horsham. He’s had a hernia operation so is looking to be fit mid-August. It will be really nice to have Lucas back.

"There’ll be a couple more familiar faces to come, hopefully.”