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WHILE reaching the lucrative fifth round of the Clearer Water Irish Cup is a clear objective for Scott Robinson, the Fivemiletown United manager insists that progress in the league remains his number one priority.
On Saturday Town travel to Drumaness Mills for a challenging third round tie, and, Robinson again intends to reshuffle his pack.
“To be honest I have used the cup games to give players their opportunity and I’ll do that on Saturday again,” he said.
“That’s not to say that we are going to make up the numbers, nothing could be further from the truth.
“Drumaness are going well. I’ve got a lot of feedback on them and it’ll be a tough ask.
“But it’s an opportunity for young players to step up and take their chance.”
The first couple of months of the new season has been something of a mixed bag for the Valley Stadium men.
They flew out of the traps, but, due to injuries among other things, the Tyrone outfit has experienced something of a blip in recent weeks
On Saturday Robinson and Co were defeated 2-0 at FC Mindwell in the first round of the Premier Cup, a game during which striker Nick Palmer limped off with an ankle injury.
Palmer had been struggling with an ankle niggle and it looks like he could be out until the new year.
While that is obviously bad news for United, Robinson insists Palmer’s absence is an opportunity for someone else to step up to the plate.
“That’s how football works. Jamie Adams is young, fast and direct and needs to be playing games and the evergreen Ricki Carroll can still mix it with the best,” he continued
“We have a lot of young players at the minute and the only way to gain experience is by playing.
“Saturday will be a big test against opponents who no doubt will have experienced ex-Irish League or Championship players in their ranks.
“We’ll be going there to win but as I have done in all the cup games we’ll mix things up. We’ll look forward to it.”