WEYMOUTH club captain Ashley Wells admits there is “added pressure” on the Terras ahead of their FA Trophy second round tie at Ramsbottom United today (3pm) as a result of the Dorset side’s good form.
Wells, who has recently returned to the starting line-up after injury, feels the Bob Lucas Stadium club are there to be “shot at” due to holding second place in the Evo-Stik Southern Premier South.
Lancastrian side Ramsbottom, some 270 miles from Weymouth, ply their trade one tier below the Terras in the Northern Premier League Division One West and currently occupy seventh.
Wells, however, is confident Mark Molesley’s men can handle the burden of expectation placed upon his higher-ranked team, who are 26 places above the Rams in the league pyramid.
He told Echosport: “With us, because we’re doing so well, we’re there to be shot at.
“Everyone expects us to win every game so there is that added pressure, but we deal with it.
“We’re one of the first results people look for. We handle the pressure well as a team, but I think it’s a game a lot of people just look at and assume ‘they should win that’ when it’s never the case.”
Wells is also keen to build on the Terras’ strong season by progressing to round three and feels Weymouth can beat “anyone” when on their A-game.
He said: “We’re positive. Every game we go into we know if we play to the best of our abilities we’ve got a chance.
“It’s a competition we want to do well in. We’ve been quite lucky with the draw, we’ve not drawn any of the big teams yet. We want to progress as far as we can and make some money for the club.”
To relieve the strain of a long trip, Weymouth will travel on Friday and stay in Lancashire overnight.
“It’s the most professional it’s ever been with Moles in charge,” Wells said of the Terras’ set-up.
“Last year, the league was crazy, you travel to King’s Lynn on a Tuesday night like we had to on a play-off semi-final. It’s something that we’re used to.
“We’re going up on Friday so we’ll already be there and don’t have to worry about leaving early morning.
“It’s nice, we get to go away, all the lads are together. It’s a good bit of team bonding and hopefully we can come away with a positive result, because we don’t want to go all that way and lose.
