"It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" - Millington urges Shaymen to seize their chance of reaching Wembley

The Shaymen take on Altrincham on Saturday in the semi-final of the FA Trophy, with a place at Wembley on Sunday, May 21 at stake.

Halifax won the competition in 2016, beating Grimsby Town 1-0 in the final, and can salvage what has otherwise been a disappointing campaign by securing a return to the national stadium.

When asked what his message to his players will be ahead of the match, Millington said: "It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for most players to get the opportunity to play at Wembley, and it's making sure we understand the game-plan, we go into it with real thorough preparation but that they leave no stone unturned in terms of their effort and application to try and win the game.

"They're only going to get one opportunity and if they come off with any regrets, it'd be a crying shame."

Millington says he would be delighted for his players to reach the final after what has been a difficult season.

"It's exciting, great opportunity," he said. "It's a huge thrill for everybody involved and it makes all the challenge and the adversity we've faced this year worthwhile.

"Just making it to the Trophy semi-final is some reward for all the adversity we've had to face, but a trip to Wembley would be fantastic for the lads, as a reward for a season that's been very difficult.

"They've had a lot of difficulty to face but a lot of them have really grown up over the last ten months and I think the experiences they've had will stand them in good stead going on into their careers.

"But a trip to Wembley would be a fitting reward for all the adversity they've had to deal with."

Victory on Saturday would also be a huge boost to the Halifax supporters after enduring an underwhelming season.

"We all want the same thing, they play for Halifax Town and they give everything for the shirt and the club and for each other as a squad of players," Millington said.

"There's an awful lot of good people behind-the-scenes who've hurt a lot this season with some of the difficulties, some of the results and it not panning out exactly how we'd have hoped.

"From the chairman down, we do it for the club.

"There's a lot of very committed fans who've been really supportive along the way and understand that, regardless of results sometimes, the lads have given everything they've got and deserve encouragement, so it's them we'll be doing it for.

"The fact it'll be such a tightly-packed ground with a good bank of away following, who've been fantastic in recent weeks the away support, we've got to credit them for the support they've offered the lads, so we know the lads will get a fantastic reception.

"It'll be a brilliant occasion for them.

"I don't want to over-emphasise the youthful nature of the group at the moment but they won't be short of adrenaline to get them through."

Millington believes Altrincham, who are three places and six points above Town in the National League table, go into the game as favourites.

"We're in the position of going in as underdogs, Altrincham are flying high in the league, I know they lost on Tuesday but they've put a string of positive results and performances together in recent weeks," the Halifax boss said.

"They're at home, so everyone will be expecting them to win the game, so that's good for us because the weight of expectation is all on them.

"As far as we're concerned, we go into every game believing we can win it and expecting to win it, and that'll be no different on Saturday.

"The nature of the game being such a big crowd in such a tight ground will be a fantastic atmosphere and we believe we can spring a surprise and go and beat them."

Halifax lost 2-1 at Altrincham on Boxing Day before drawing 2-2 with them at The Shay on New Year's Day.

"They've changed quite a lot since then in terms of personnel, they've obviously lost Colclough, Conn-Clarke and Toby Mullarkey," Millington said.

"What they have done is added some good players in Welch-Hayes and Ferguson.

"They're probably a team who you'd argue are probably slightly better defensively than the team we faced around Christmas, but maybe have lost some of that attacking threat in losing the likes of Conn-Clarke and Colclough.

"We know what they'll do in terms of trying to dominate possession, they have changed shape more recently as well, so it's a shape that should make them a little bit more solid.

"It'll be a real interesting tactical battle.

"We know how good out of possession we've been in recent weeks, so if we can be as good out of possession then I'd expect us to create a number of opportunities off the counter and, being away from home in a cup semi-final, that might not be a bad way to go and win the game."

Assessing his own squad ahead of Saturday's clash, Millington said: "We went into Tuesday's game with pretty much every place under some sort of threat.

"Hopefully Jesse will be fit and pushing for a starting position, we've obviously got Jordan Keane and Tom Clarke on the bench who are desperate to get a start and play some minutes.

"You've got Jack Hunter, who's been fantastic in recent weeks, helping to sure it up in the centre of midfield and help the likes of Summers and Harvey (Gilmour) to get on the ball and play.

"The front three, Rob (Harker), Warby and Cookie, have put a shift in, we know the threat that Milli Alli carries and the goal threat he's got.

"Alongside that you've got the likes of Fidel (O'Rourke) coming back to fitness, Mani (Dieseruvwe) has come on and had a really positive impact.

"So every position has some level of threat to it.

"I think the two who might feel a bit more comfortable are the two wing-backs, but even there there's people who can come in and do a job.

"It will go through a thorough process in terms of reviewing and reflecting, we'll make sure everybody's fit and ready and we want to make sure everybody's fresh.

"We're going to have to commit an awful lot of energy to stop Altrincham play the way they want to play, so we've got to make sure we put out the most energetic group of players we've got available to us in each position."

Millington says discussions are ongoing with some of Town's out-of-contract players.

"We're talking to some of them, others will happen nearer the end of the season," he said.

"But what we've got to do is make sure that we finish this season with a strong foundation of a squad ready to go into next season.

"We don't want the same situation where we lose a raft of players and we have to bring in a large percentage of the squad, we want it to be certainly no more than 35 per cent of the squad that we've got to bring in come the end of the season.

"If we can achieve that, it's going to take some work because clearly lads are going to get interest from higher up and from wealthier clubs, but if we can end the season strong and with a good bouncing atmosphere at The Shay, then it puts us in a much better position than we currently are."