Football: Blyth boss sends a warning to Whitley.

Byline: STUART RAYNER and MALCOLM PRATT 

MANAGER Harry Dunn insists Blyth Spartans will have to play a lot better if they are to defeat Whitley Bay in tonight's FA Cup third qualifying round replay at Croft Park, write STUART RAYNER and MALCOLM PRATT.

The straight talking boss and assistant Graham Fenton had some choice words for their side after the first game and believe Spartans were lucky to survive

"Sometimes you've got to tell the truth and quite frankly we were awful at Hillheads Park on Saturday. We were not too bad in the first 20 minutes but from then on we were second best," said Dunn.

"If we are going to win and meet Gainsborough Trinity in the next round then certainly we have got to show a lot of improvement.

"Anything can happen in the FA Cup and the only good news to come out of Saturday's game is that we are still involved." Dunn will have the same squad available, his only absentee being Paul Catto who was injured in last Monday's Northumberland Senior Cup victory over Blyth Town.

His disappointment was echoed by Fenton, who came on as a lastminute sub on Saturday and believes Spartans will be much more difficult to handle in the replay.

"Whitley Bay were by far the better team on Saturday. We were very, very poor," he said. "That was the worst we've been since Harry Dunn came back to the club two years ago.

"We had possibly seven players off their game. There were a couple of half-decent performances but nowhere near what we expect.

"Obviously Bay have got a few lads who are quite threatening in the air but if individuals do their jobs we shouldn't have a problem.

"I'd be very surprised if we played that poorly again. We had some great support at Whitley Bay (about 700 travelling fans) and we can't ask for any more. It's one of the first games I've been in where there's been a delayed kick-off for a long time.

"That shows the support which has come in through the gates and to be fair our fans haven't been rewarded for their loyalty.

"You can ask other individuals if complacency was why they played poorly but if that's the case it's shocking.

"We talked about it before the game, they were a team who'd won nine games on the trot, if anyone thought we were going to walk through it they were much mistaken.

"If there were any lads on the team who thought it was going to be easy they've been proven wrong. It's a wake-up call for us and we're very, very lucky to still be in the cup."

Bay boss Ian Chandler cannot wait for the replay, even though he believes his side should already be through to the next round.

He said: "I thought we should have seen them off on Saturday but now we have it all to do. But if we play as well again then we are certainly in with a shout.

"Obviously, the lads were disappointed to concede a last-ditch equaliser but they are up for the replay. They wanted to train last night but I told them we will treat tonight's fixture like any other."

Chandler is one of seven former Blyth players now at the Bay but one of them, Brian Smith, is unavailable tonight. Another ex-Croft Park player Brian Rowe is struggling with a knee injury and as a precaution Chandler has added John Rattle and Andy Fairlamb to the squad.

The start of Saturday's game had to be postponed because of crowd congestion and fans are urged to arrive early for tonight's replay, which kicks off at 7.45pm.

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WATCH BAY SCORE: David Coulson heads Whitley Bay's first goal in Saturday's 2-2 FA Cup draw at Hillheads.