FC Halifax Town: Forget about Wembley and concentrate on the league, says Bencherif

Halifax secured their place in the final of the FA Trophy last weekend, and will play Grimsby at Wembley on May 22.

But Bencherif is now turning his attention to Town’s battle to beat the drop in the Conference, with 10 games left to play.

The defender admits it might not be pretty, but is determined that Town now put all their energies into their fight for survival.

“You want to play nice football and do it the right way, but we’ve got to Wembley sometimes scrapping, sometimes playing nice football.

“If we have to scrap, then so be it, but the main thing is that we stay up,” he said.

“Obviously there’s been lots of talk about getting to Wembley and the run has meant a lot of league games have been rearranged.

“But the main thing now is to forget about Wembley. That will come and we’ll enjoy that.

“But now we have to focus on the league and pick up as many points as we can.

“The confidence is there, whether that’s confidence to play well or battle well.”

Just one point separates Halifax and Altrincham going into the game, with six points separating seven teams from 16th to 22nd in the table.

Town have 10 league games to play, and Bencherif feels they are all of critical importance given the concertinaed nature of the table.

“I think all of our remaining games are must-win because everybody’s hitting form,” he said.

“If that wasn’t the case then you could afford to drop points, but they’re all must-win, especially against a team next to us.

“But if we don’t win it, we need to make sure they don’t either so we’re in the same position.

“There are a few teams like Guiseley, Southport and Aldershot that are getting dragged into it, so it makes it like a mini-league for those six or seven teams, and gives us more of a chance to stay up.”

Bencherif admits Town have been patchy of late, with three wins, two defeats and three draws in their last eight games.

“I think we’ve had some mix and match performances. Some good halves and some poor halves,” he added.

“The results have been average. Southport, football-wise, was not our best day but we got the three points.

“Torquay was a tough game and was a hard place to go to.

“Bromley and Braintree were both tough games - London is never an easy place to go, especially on a Tuesday night.

“We’ve had loads of travelling and been away from our families a lot over the last few weeks, but I think the fact we’ve had an empty week this week will benefit us.”