Buckley Town boss Dan Moore undertook a lengthy scouting trip to boost his side's hopes of progressing in the Welsh Cup.

With no league game to oversee last weekend, Moore made the near 300-mile round trip to watch Saturday's opponents Pontardawe Town in action.

The Swansea club were beaten 5-2 in the Welsh Trophy at Canton Liberal FC in a game played in Cardiff.

And, having now seen the opposition first hand, Bucks boss Moore has done his homework ahead of the third round clash.

He said: “Since I've been manager we've never played in a cup game so far away before.

“With us not having a game last week, I was able to travel down and get a better idea of who we're coming up against.

“Obviously they're competing in a lower league than us and the standard of football probably reflected that.

“But anything can happen in this type of game. There are upsets in most cup competitions and whichever league they play in is irrelevant.

“We need to show up with the correct attitude and make sure we play at our usual standard and not take the opposition lightly at all.”

Buckley have not played competitively since their 3-2 win at Conwy Borough on November 23.

But Moore says the enforced fixture break has afforded him and assistant manager Alan Edwards the opportunity to drill down improvements on the training ground.

“We've had more contact time with the lads in these last few week, which has been good,” he added.

“As a team I think the lads are looking a lot fitter and a lot more organised on the pitch as a result of that.

“This is a game we're really looking forward to and a chance for us to get ourselves into the last 16.

“There's still a chance we could play another Tier Two side in the next round - that's a big incentive.”

Buckley will be without long-term injury absentees Luke Douglas and Luke Blizzard, with Chris Roberts and Shaun Tinsley also set to miss the cup clash.