WAYNE Goodison is confident 1874 Northwich players will not repeat mistakes made last weekend when they turn their attention to the FA Cup this afternoon.

They travel to Burscough for an extra preliminary round encounter determined to put behind them a 6-3 defeat against City of Liverpool in their opener.

“We got spanked at home and so were down about it,” said the co-manager.

“But so much of the damage that was done we inflicted on ourselves, and we can fix that.

“I watched the game back on Sunday and couldn’t believe how poor some of our defending was.

“It’s a shame, because it understandably diverted attention away from a lot of positive stuff that we played going forward.

“There was lots of evidence of the things we’re good at, and that’s getting down the sides of teams and putting balls into the box.

“The problem was that every time we gave ourselves an opportunity to get back into the game we conceded another goal.”

Goodison told the Guardian that this group had proven time and again last season that they can react to a setback.

The stakes are high at Victoria Park; the winning team will pocket more than £2,000 in prize money and they know already they will have home advantage at the next stage.

1874 beat Burscough in both meetings last season including, curiously, a 1-0 win in Lancashire on this weekend 12 months ago.

The Linnets have endured a disappointing start to the campaign, and followed a home reverse against Hanley last Saturday by conceding six goals themselves in a hammering at Squires Gate in midweek.

Goodison was in the crowd.

He added: “We’ve watched them and done some homework.

“We’ll always do that, but it’s more important this weekend that we put things right because there is a bit extra riding on it.”

A run to the FA Vase semi-finals last term was preceded by a similarly impressive surge to the third qualifying round of the FA Cup.

1874 played nine games in the competition, eliminating two-higher ranked opponents along the way, and were ousted only after a penalty shoot-out in a replay at Ossett Town.

Goodison said: “Those lads that were here want to experience it again.

“If they already up for playing Burscough, then remembering what that felt like should do the trick.”

If today’s head-to-head ends in a draw, then 1874 will host Burscough in a replay at Barton Stadium on Tuesday.