CANVEY Island manager Danny Heale says he will be putting out a strong side in the Essex Senior Cup tonight, in a match he is viewing as a “pre-season friendly”.

The Gulls have seen a host of matches postponed recently due to opponents involvement in various cup competitions, and Canvey have dropped behind the competition in the Ryman Premier League as a consequence.

They travel to Waltham Abbey in the third round of the competition tonight, and Heale says he will be using it as an opportunity for his players to regain some match sharpness.

“(Assistant manager) Joe (Keith) and I were saying that, the way the fixtures have panned out, if we could stay out of the bottom four it wouldn’t be too bad after this run,” he said.

“We have four or five games in hand on some teams but we want points on the board.

We are getting narrowly beaten at the moment but we are in games. We need a bit of the rub of the green and to start taking our chances.

“We have scored at will in recent seasons but we need to put them away more regularly now.

“I have won this cup as a player and it is a big cup locally,” he added. “It will be a tough game and we haven’t done well in the cups against lower league sides so far - we are using it as a pre-season friendly.

“I prefer games as training gets monotonous. We will play on Tuesday and Saturday for a while but we need to steer clear of injuries. We have had to look after ourselves and make sure we are not overspending due to the clubhouse we are having built but that will be done in a month and things should return to normal.”

Heale has added Tayshan Hayden-Smith from Enfield and Harry Morgan from Chelmsford. Defensive pair Jack Lampe and Ryan O’Rawe are doubts ahead of tonight although Jake Pitty is fit.

In the Ryman North, Bowers & Pitsea face something of a goalkeeping crisis against Brentwood Town.

Bobby Mason is close to a move to Thurrock while Martyn Guest is injured.

Great Wakering face a crunch game against fellow strugglers Heybridge Swifts at Burroughs Park.

Rovers have lost three in a row while Swifts occupy the finish relegation space ahead of kick-off.