WARRINGTON Rylands have already made club history in the FA Cup this year but could put themselves on the brink of something very special.

Blues have reached the third qualifying round for the first time and victory at Macclesfield on Saturday will put them within 90 minutes of the lucrative main draw.

Of course, it will be easier said than done against a Macc side who are the red-hot favourites for promotion from the Northern Premier League this year but having already drawn at the Leasing.com Stadium this season in the league, Rylands have earned the right to approach the tie with no fear.

And with the financial boost guaranteed as the clubs will split the receipts of an attendance likely to be around 3,000 down the middle as per competition rules, manager Michael Clegg says his players will approach the tie with complete freedom.

“The pressure is off on Saturday – it’s the FA Cup and there’s no points at stake,” he said.

“There’s a lot of money at stake but with the draws we’ve had – FC United away and now Macclesfield away – we’ve kind of hit the jackpot with that already and takes that pressure away.

“That being said, the lads are bang up for it and we’ll be going there to have a go. I’m proud to lead them at the moment.

“We went there last time when they were on the back of a couple of losses, but they will be fired up for it and they’re a very good side at home.

“Everyone talks about stopping Macclesfield and how you can hurt them, but only a couple have done it so we’ll be going there paying them all the respect we paid them in the league game.

“However, that doesn’t mean we’re going to sit back and put 11 men behind the ball.

“We’re going to go for it because that’s the only thing we know.”

Warrington Guardian: A memorable 4-0 thrashing of FC United earlier this month confirmed this as Blues' longest ever FA Cup runA memorable 4-0 thrashing of FC United earlier this month confirmed this as Blues' longest ever FA Cup run (Image: Mark Percy)

Rylands make the trip across Cheshire amid a fine run of form, with Tuesday’s 1-0 win over FC United of Manchester at Gorsey Lane extending their unbeaten run in all competitions to 10 matches.

Their bid to make that 11 will be boosted on Saturday by the return of top scorer Mo Touray, who missed Tuesday’s victory and the 4-2 win at Matlock Town that preceded it with a hamstring issue.

“Mo will be fit for Saturday. I probably wasn’t his favourite person on Tuesday because he probably could have played, but he just had a little niggle in his hamstring,” Clegg said.

“He has become our main man and I told him we were going to grind out a couple of wins without him whether he liked it or not.

“Luckily, it’s paid off and he’s going to be 100 per cent now for Saturday.”

Should this weekend’s tie finish as a draw, the teams will replay at Gorsey Lane on Tuesday evening.

The fourth qualifying round draw takes place at 1pm on Monday.