TIVIDALE manager Dean Whitehouse has been forced to apologise for sounding like a stuck record when asked about his table-topping side.

“I’m sick of talking to the media about us and I’m sure they’re sick of me but the plain fact is we really are taking every game as it comes,” said the Tivi boss, whose side kept their promotion tilt on track with a 5-1 win at struggling Wolverhampton Sporting Community on Saturday.

However the manager did drop his guard when asked where the League Cup was in his priorities after last Thursday’s opening round win, 2-1 over title rivals Wednesfield.

“We want the lot. And why shouldn’t we?” added Whitehouse. “We are not being complacent but I have a large squad of quality players with a lot of talented youngsters coming through. That meant I was able to mix things up last week.

The league leaders were trailing to relegation-haunted Wolves SC at the break on Saturday but Whitehouse had a simple message to his charges in the dressing room.

“I told them to just stick at it and I knew we’d win all along,” he explained.

But Whitehouse was characteristically coy about any psychological advantage secured over Wednesfield with a League Cup victory that sets up another Black Country derby, at home to Amblecote outfit Dudley Sports next Tuesday (ko 7.30pm). Wednesfield have a lot of fixtures to catch-up but, if they pick up wins, are one of few sides with the leaders in their sights going into last night’s cruncher at The Beeches. Whitehouse, expecting to have a full strength side last night, will then stick to his familiar mantra for Saturday’s home game against Bloxwich United AFC (ko 3pm) before even thinking about the looming League Cup date.

But there was no such reticence from Dudley Sports joint manager Tony Gore, whose team picked up a welcome 4-0 win at home to Stafford on Saturday, new forward Kevin Vegoli bagging a debut brace to ease the bitterness left by the defections of Yakubu Nuni and Jolly Pheon to new Cradley boss Steve Daniels.

Sports visit Cradley in a tense encounter on Saturday (ko 3pm) but had time to ponder what he aknowledged is expected to be his side’s final cup outing of the season, at Tivi.

“It’s a cup game and we’ve played them twice this season and done well,” said Gore. “They are without doubt the best team in the league and will be expected to beat us but I’m looking forward to it because there’s no pressure on us and you never know what might happen.”