HIGHWORTH Town boss John Fisher has stuck to his guns and not trained his squad ahead of this afternoon’s FA Vase quarter final at The Elms – despite the magnitude of the occasion.

The recent volume of matches and the Worthians’ epic cup run has seen Fisher adopt a ‘no training’ policy in recent weeks and that has not changed ahead of this afternoon’s visit by Tadcaster Albion (3pm).

“I’m superstitious, we haven’t trained and we didn’t for the other games,” Fisher said.

“We can’t get on the pitch any way to work on any set pieces because that is all it would be.

“The only training we could do is in the gym and to be honest that could do more damage than it is worth. Plus I wanted to watch the Champions League any way.”

With a crowd of more than 700 expected at the Elms today, Fisher is hoping that nerves don’t get the better of his players.

The Worthians will look to take a step closer to Wembley with victory, which would send them into a two-legged semi final.

Veteran boss Fisher, who led the club to the Hellenic League title 10 years ago, admits that he is unsure how his players will handle the big occasion.

“They have been great so far, no, they have been brilliant,” Fisher said.

“On the day we will give the boys all the information that they need.

“One thing you can’t plan for though is how the boys will be on the day.

“We will give them a great chance, but you just don’t know how they will react, how the nerves will affect them.

“We have some young lads in the side and some older ones. The younger ones may have no nerves at all - you just don’t know what is inside their heads or stomachs.

“Hopefully after the first 10 minutes we will settle down and start to play.”

Highworth go into the match as hefty underdogs with the bookies having the Toolstation Northern Counties East League Premier Division leaders at 8-13, while Fisher’s men are quoted at 10-3 for the win today.

However, the bookies have been wrong before with Blackfield and Langley, the team Highworth beat 1-0 in the third round, also odds-on to progress against the Worthians.

“We have been the underdogs in every round but I’m not worried about that,” he added.

Follow today’s Vase tie with the Adver’s Dan Barnes on Twitter @misterdanbarnes