FC Halifax Town's McGrath: Respectful Approach to National League Cup
FC Halifax Town boss John McGrath has stated that he will not make early changes in the National League Cup game against Derby County under 21s on Tuesday. The match will see several players who were on the bench at the weekend for Town potentially handed starts, including Sam Johnson, AJ Warburton, David Kawa, Amari Morgan-Smith, Owen Bray, Arian Allen, and Tayt Trusty.
Hartlepool made four changes soon after kick-off to get around the competition rule where a certain number of players who appeared in the previous match have to be in the starting line-up. However, McGrath says that he will be respectful to the competition and will not follow suit.
"I want to win every game I play," McGrath said. "I certainly won't do what happened at Hartlepool v Middlesbrough where it was 10-0. I think if you're going to set a team up, you've got to set them up to win a game of football. In certain parts of the season, we will be Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday, so just because it's Derby County under 21s and the National League Cup, I think we've got to pay respect to the competition we're in, to our fans who will come and watch and certainly to the opposition we're going to play against."
League standing: 20th in National League, 0 pts, 0W-0D-2L from 2 games, recent form LL. Goals this season: 3 scored, 6 conceded (-3 goal difference). Title race: 6 points behind leaders Harrogate Town. Next fixture: vs Boston United (away, 2027-02-16) (10th in the table).
What happened?
FC Halifax Town's John McGrath has spoken about his team's approach to the National League Cup opener against Derby County under 21s.
Why it matters for FC Halifax Town
The match is an opportunity for FC Halifax Town to showcase their skills and respect the competition.
What comes next?
FC Halifax Town will face Derby County under 21s in the National League Cup opener on Tuesday.
