WEYMOUTH boss Jason Tindall felt his side missed the experience of Ashley Vickers and Paolo Vernazza in Saturday's 1-1 draw against Hitchin Town at the Wessex Stadium.

The Terras needed an 85th minute equaliser from Justin Roberts in the FA Cup Fourth Qualifying Round tie and they are now expecting a tough replay at Top Field tomorrow.

The Canaries may ply their trade two tiers below Weymouth in the British Gas Business League Premier Division but the performances of goalkeeper Ricky Perks, goalscorer Ryan Frater and midfielder Shane Hill proved they are no pushovers.

Tindall said: "For 75 minutes I thought we were very bad to be honest. It took us that long to realise we are a good team and that we can play football.

"The worst thing that happened was conceding an early goal. That was very disappointing and too many of our players panicked after that and did not want the ball.

"They know they are better than that but the main thing is that we are still in the hat. Saying that, even though we did not play well their goalkeeper has still kept them in the competition.

"He has had one of those days where he stopped everything. But those types of things are what the FA Cup is all about.

"Fair play to Hitchin, they have come here and had a real good go but I felt we deserved the equaliser.

"It is going to be difficult at their place on Tuesday and we know we will have to play a lot better if we want to go through."

Tindall was forced to make two changes to his starting XI due to an injury to Vickers and Vernazza's one-game suspension.

He said: "We missed Ashley and Paolo there was no doubt about that. Had they both been playing we would have won the game.

"If Ashley was on the field I don't think they would have scored their goal and Paolo would have given us a lot more composure and made us play."

Player-coach Marcus Browning made a big difference for the Terras when he came on in the second half for Danny Phillips.

Tindall added: "I felt it was the right time to bring him on. I did think about making the switch at half-time but I thought I would give the lads another 10 minutes to put things right.

"However, it was still not happening so I brought Marcus on for his experience and competitiveness, and he shored us up and kept things ticking over.

"Conal Platt also came on and made a difference. There are not many better players in the Blue Square Premier at keeping hold of the ball than Conal."

The winners of tomorrow's replay will travel to Eastbourne Borough in the first round proper. Speaking just after the draw was made, Tindall said: "We have got to get past Hitchin first but it is a winnable one. In a way I am also quite pleased it is away from home because we seem to be better on the road."

* Weymouth Supporters' Travel Club are running a coach to Hitchin tomorrow leaving the Wessex Stadium at 2pm.

The cost is approximately £17. To book a seat telephone Ian White on 836361.