CONCORD Rangers manager Adam Flanagan says he will field a strong team ahead of tonight’s Essex Senior Cup clash against Wivenhoe Town.

The Beach Boys have an excellent recent record in the cup, having won the cup for three successive seasons between 2014 and 2016.

Concord’s defeat to eventual winners Chelmsford City last season was their first reverse in the competition since February 2013.

Overwhelming favourites against the Thurlow Nunn Premier Division’s bottom side – Concord play three tiers higher in the pyramid.

And Flanagan said everyone at the club is determined to get their hands back on the trophy.

“Realistically the Essex Senior Cup is the main cup the club has a good chance of winning each season so it is very important,” he said. “We will utilise the squad tonight but we will field a very strong side and I expect those players who haven’t featured as much as they would have liked recently to put in a top level of performance.

“It is a cup we place a lot of importance on so we will do our utmost to try and regain it this season.

“With a lot of our local clubs putting more importance on it now as well I feel it will be a highly competitive cup competition this year.”

Concord drew their sixth straight game in the National League South on Saturday – as Gloucester City came from behind to earn a point.

And, although the point was enough to lift Concord out of the relegation places, Flanagan said he was frustrated not to get the three points.

“I thought Gloucester were a good side and they put us under a considerable amount of pressure in periods once we had got ourselves in front,” added Flanagan. “We were looking for a win so it was disappointing to have drawn having been in front but that’s the way the season is going at the moment and a draw is better than a loss.”

Also in the Essex Senior Cup tonight, Canvey Island welcome Saffron Walden Town hoping for an overdue run in the competition.