EVESHAM United manager Paul Collicutt believes Cheltenham Town will provide worthy opposition at the Jubilee Stadium tonight (7.45pm).

The Cheltenham tie is arguably Evesham’s most high-profile pre-season encounter and boss Collicutt thinks the fixture will provide another chance for him to assess his squad, with expectations higher than ever.

“Expectations last year weren’t as high as this year - if anything we did better than anticipated. People are looking at us in a different light and we need to step up to the bar,” Collicutt said.

“We suffered only two defeats in 29 games which is a big feat in itself. Football always has surprises along the way and you’ve got to be lucky to keep everyone fit too,” he added.

The boss was also quick to emphasise the warm-up game will give his players a chance to prove themselves against full-time opposition.

“The lads will take a lot from playing a team who are professionals. It’ll be good for the players to see if they have any aspirations to get into the professional game,” Collicutt said.

“We’ve got some good players at Evesham and we understand that some of them will be looking to get into the professional side of the game, and this is an excellent chance for them to do that.”

Despite expectations running high, Collicutt believes his team will face a hard task against Gary Johnson’s men, who were relegated from the Football League last term.

Collicutt said: “Cheltenham had a bad season last year and they’ll be looking to bounce straight back into the Football League at the first attempt.

“Their players will be looking to impress the new manager and their own fans too.

“Hopefully the weather stays dry and I’m sure that if we stay dry there will be people who turn out from both sets of clubs.”