New-look Dartford won’t have club’s poor recent FA Cup record on their minds ahead of first qualifying round trip to Westfield, says player-boss Ben Greenhalgh

Dartford player-boss Ben Greenhalgh insists the club’s poor recent FA Cup record won’t have any impact on his current squad.

The Darts have been knocked out at the first hurdle in three of the last four years.

But it’s a competition that has treated Greenhalgh well down the years, including a memorable giantkilling win over Stevenage when he was at Maidstone in 2014/15.

“We obviously gave objectives to the boys that we did in a presentation at the end of pre-season, and it included the club’s FA Cup runs,” said Greenhalgh.

“There’s no hiding from the fact there haven’t been many good ones lately.

“But there’s quite a positive side to it because we’re a new team.

“Had you been taking over the same 20-man squad that obviously in the past hasn’t done well in the FA Cup, that’s in their memory.

“At the moment, it will only be in a few of their heads and the fans’ heads.

“I think we need to show how good an FA Cup run can be, not just financially for a football club.

“Looking back at my non-league career, a lot of people think about the Maidstone-Stevenage game and we’re talking 10 years ago now.

“That’s a memory that is always going to be there, it’s clearly for a good reason. So, we want to be creating those memories.

“I’ve said all along to these players, you want to be successful in football because sometimes when there isn’t any success on the pitch, those seasons can pass you by and it’s very rare that success can come around.

“So, an FA Cup run is something we’re looking towards.”

It’s hardly a step into the unknown for Greenhalgh, with the Darts drawn away to Isthmian South Central side Westfield in the first qualifying round this Saturday.

It’s a ground that he knows well, having lost there with former club Margate