ANDY Burgess has warned Halesowen Town to be at their best if they want to avoid an FA Cup shock against Dudley Town .

The Robins head to the Grove this Saturday for a preliminary round clash — the first competitive meeting between the clubs in more than a decade.

Burgess believes the hosts are the biggest club in the competition at this stage and says his side have nothing to lose.

He said: “If you look at the history of the club and their wins in the Vase, they are probably the top club in the competition.

“It’s great for us, we don’t get to play them very often and the players have been buzzing since the draw was made.

“We will go and enjoy it but if they think it’s going to be easy they have another thing coming.

“In reality there should only be one winner, they have a budget of £800 and we have a bag of scratchings and a can of pop. But if they are not at their best then I feel we can hurt them.”

The Robins warmed-up for the clash with a 3-1 win over Malvern Town in the West Midlands League Premier Division last night.

Burgess’ side were also 2-1 winners over Wellington Amateurs on Saturday thanks to Dreniz Bala’s stoppage time winner.

The main concern heading into the Halesowen game is likely to be injuries with Richard Langford, Ross Love and Ben Harper among several players clogging up the treatment table. Skipper Danny Ludlow is also unavailable.

Burgess is predicing a high-scoring encounter as he believes both side may share a similar weakness.

He said: “Like us I think they are perhaps a bit soft in the centre of defence.

“We are definitely going to have a go at them. If we are going to win the game it will be something like 3-2.

“We are not the kind of team who will score one and keep a clean sheet.”