STEVE HALLIWELL insists ‘the pressure is off’ his Gresford Athletic side in Sunday’s NEWFA Cup final.

Three-time winners of the competition, the Colliers head into the final at the Airfield looking to reclaim a trophy they last won two seasons ago.

With Welsh Premier side Cefn Druids standing in their way, Halliwell admits that his men will be unfancied in the contest but has urged them to embrace their underdogs tag.

“Nobody will expect us to beat them because of the gulf in quality of the leagues we play in”, he said.

“But the pressure is off for us and all on them as far as I’m concerned.

“We’ll have nothing to lose and hopefully if we play with that kind of freedom it’ll help our performance.

“I know Huw (Griffiths) well and I know the qualities his Druids team have - they’re a very decent side on their day.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if Huw put out a full-strength side for this one, so we have to be ready for a massive test, especially on 3G.”

Gresford’s indifferent Cymru Alliance campaign ended a fortnight ago and culminated in a bottom-half finish.

But Halliwell says the opportunity to sign off with silverware this season is a huge motivation for his players.

He added: “It’s a competition we set out to win at the start of the season and, if we can beat the top-ranked side to do it, it would be great to get our hands on the trophy again.

“We didn’t hit the heights we wanted to in the league, but this is a real chance for us to finish on a high and give everyone at the club a lift.

"We’ve had a two-week break since the season ended, so availability’s good and we feel like we’re in strong position to challenge this weekend.”

On-loan Druids midfielder Ben Burrows is ineligible for the clash in an otherwise full-strength Gresford squad.