THETFORD TOWN have the chance to book a place at Carrow Road on Saturday when they play host to Anglian Combination challengers Norwich St Johns in the semi-finals of the Norfolk Senior Cup (kick-off 3pm).

The winners will face Gorleston or Norwich City – who also meet this weekend – in the final on Monday, May 14. And for manager Mark Scott there are several good reasons why a return to action cannot come soon enough.

One is that he now accepts that the prospects of what lies ahead if they beat St Johns may have played a small part in his team’s dip in form before the freeze which has left them without a game for the last two weeks.

Another is that it gives them a chance to get back to winning ways while achieving one of their two main targets for the season.

“We said at the start of the season that we wanted to go a step or two further than last season, when we unfortunately lost to King’s Lynn in the semi-finals,” said Scott. “There was no embarrassment in losing to a team as good as King’s Lynn but we feel we have a stronger squad now and, with no disrespect to our opponents, we know that if we play to our strengths we should be able to reach the final.

“After winning the league, reaching the Senior Cup final was second on our wanted list for this season – and right now this is the biggest game we’ve faced in a long time. Everyone is desperate to get out and play, for one thing.”

Scott concedes that the Senior Cup may have proven something of a distraction from the ‘number one’ priority since their shock quarter-final success over Wroxham.

“You could say our form has been on a slip slide since the semi-final draw was made,” he said. “On reflection, talking to the players, it seems that some may not have been as fully focused as they should have been.

“I know all of them are really excited about the possibility of playing at Carrow Road.

“But for me the most important thing of all is to get back to the winning streak we had going before.”

Apart from the suspended Dave Richards and ineligible new signing Cordell Jackson, Scott has a clean bill of health with recent injury worries Bruno Tavares, Matt Howard and Luke Bailey all having had time to heal while another recent arrival, Nathan Szylsyzlk is available for the first time since signing.

The club are hoping to be able to bring forward Saturday’s reserve game at North Walsham to Thursday or Friday to allow all the club’s players to see the semi-fina. Check out www.tbtimes24.co.uk for latest news.