Michael Jones on St Albans: “We’re Confident That We Can Compete”

Hitchin Town face St Albans in the Second Qualifying Round of the FA Cup on Saturday, hoping to cause a shock in front of their own fans and continue their impressive unbeaten run.

Recent wins over Potters Bar and Biggleswade Town in cup competitions have displayed a renewed swagger to Hitchin Town’s attacking form. Whilst defensively sound in the opening month of the season, until recently there was some criticism from supporters about laboured possession and too much emphasis on build-up play without producing enough going forward.

Jones was keen to stress that was to be expected from a squad that’s got plenty of new faces in it following last season’s relegation.

“We expected a slower start with our performances as we were trying to introduce plenty of fresh faces into the group, and these players needed time to get used to each other and expectations around how we want them to play,” said Jones.

“We’re now starting to show our quality over the last few games, but we still have so much more to give. I’m expecting us to keep pushing on now as we progress further into the season.”

“Just look at Taylor Rhiney. When we spoke on the eve of the season, there were questions raised by some fans about his quality. Now everyone can see he is learning and adapting to that way we want to play, and the goals are starting to come.”

Jones was keen to point out that results over the last two seasons had generated somewhat of a losing culture at the club, where defeats were almost greeted with a shrug by some. That’s all changing now, however.

“With the two poor seasons in 2023-24 and 2024-25, some players got too used to losing, but we are well underway with the process of changing all that. This is tough and these things always take time to implement if we want to plan for long-term success and sustainability rather than a quick fix.”

Currently on a seven-match unbeaten run in all competitions, Hitchin head into Saturday’s FA Cup clash with St Albans City full of confidence. Not since November 2019 have the Canaries enjoyed such a long sequence of results without a loss (excluding penalty shootouts), but now arguably their toughest test of 2025-26 awaits them.

St Albans haven’t exactly found life in step 3 of the non-league system easy so far, with Monday night’s win over Potters Bar only their second victory in seven league games ahead of their trip to Top Field, but Jones isn’t reading too much into that.

 “St Albans will be another tough test for us. They have just been relegated from step 2 and are going through their own rebuild as a club, but they have plenty of experience within their team and some very physical players.”

Jones was at their 4-2 away win over Potters Bar earlier this week and was impressed with what he saw, adding that “they showed they are very adaptable as they changed shape for this fixture and during the game. They are a threat in wide errors, counter attacks and set plays as they possess a long throw.”

“We’re confident that we can compete,” he added. “We hope to minimise their strengths while trying to maximise our very own. We’re all very much looking forward to playing higher league opposition on Saturday and giving our all to progress into the next round.”

Hitchin’s impressive win versus step-3 opponents Potters Bar in the last round of the FA Cup should provide evidence that it’s possible to cause another shock this weekend.

This season’s Second Qualifying Round tie sees the tables turned from last season, when the struggling Canaries were knocked out by then lower-league opponents Berkhamsted at Top Field. It was one of many poor FA Cup defeats for Hitchin Town in recent seasons, with only 2023-24 seeing them go as far as the Third Qualifying Round across the last five seasons.

It was St Albans who knocked them out of the FA Cup at this stage in 2020-21, with The Saints running out 5-0 winners in an empty Clarence Park due to the Covid restrictions at the time. It was a rather unfair thrashing that day, with three of the home team’s goals coming in second half added time and Hitchin having their fair share of chances.

Having seen the fantastic atmosphere generated in the town during Hitchin’s run to the FA Cup First Round in 2018, Jones is hoping a home draw will help them go one step closer to a potential meeting with a Football League club this season.

 “We still have a long way to go in this competition to match some of the great Hitchin FA Cup runs, but we are focused on one game at a time.”

“Who knows, with the belief of the players and supporters there is a real buzz going into each game that despite being underdogs we can win the game and progress into the next round.”

Central to the great performances of late has been the diminutive figure of Callum Nicolson, who joined Hitchin from Real Bedford ahead of the win over Rayners Lane on 23 August.

Nicolson, who helped his former club romp to the league title at this level last season, formerly spent time as a professional at Luton Town before being released in 2023.

The midfielder is a player that Jones has had his eye on for some time. “I used to watch him in the Luton Town under-21 games at Top Field, then had a loan spell at Welwyn Garden City and went on to lead AFC Dunstable to the play-offs at this level.”

Adding a player who has recently won this league gives the club a boost, too. He helped Real Bedford win the league by 15 points in 2024-25, with the Bedfordshire club scoring an impressive 129 goals in 40 games.

“He had a great season last year, where he was a big part of Real Bedford romping this division. We then enquired about him in the off-season, but he was not available. After limited game time looked likely at the club early this season, he became available, and we jumped at the chance to sign him.”

Kye Tearle is another Canary who has impressed the supporters in recent weeks, displaying arguably his best form in yellow and green.

Tearle, a Hitchin Town academy product who made his first team debut in February 2020, briefly left the club at the end of 2023-24 before re-joining after Jones’ appointment in October last season.

Playing in a new role behind the lone striker, Tearle has now scored as many goals this season as he did in 123 appearances for the club before it, not to mention playing a key role in creating other goals for his teammates. His goals against Barton Rovers and Potters Bar will both be up there as goal of the season contenders in May, and Jones has been ecstatic to see him come on leaps and bounds in 2025-26.

“I have known Kye for a long time, having coached him in our academy. He’s a player that I always knew have plenty of potential, but for one reason or another has struggled for consistency across his time with the club until now.”

“One of his downsides has been how versatile he is, which might be helpful for a manager, but isn’t always great for a player as they never get the opportunity to master a single position.”

A discussion with Tearle over the summer helped both him and Jones to figure out where best to deploy him this season. Based on his performances of late, that chat has worked wonders.

“Despite always knowing he is good to cover certain positions when needed, we made it clear that we needed to focus on a role in the side to get the best out of him.”

“While he didn’t get too many opportunities in a position behind the striker at the start of the season, he’s been patient and waited for his opportunity. Since coming in ahead of the Grays Athletic replay, he’s not looked back, and we’re starting to see what he can produce going forward.”

Jones’ side have been heavily backed by fantastic support both home and away so far this season, and another bumper crowd is expected at Top Field on Saturday with the visit of their Hertfordshire rivals.

Hitchin Town have averaged the highest crowd in the Southern League Division One Central so far this season, with their average of 642 over a hundred more than any other side in the competition. The 2-0 replay win over Potters Bar drew a midweek crowd of 625 and hopes of a 1000+ crowd a Top Field at the weekend seem realistic – even more so considering St Albans’ fantastic following.

“I hope the supporters understand how important they are to the club and the players performing for them,” said the Canaries boss. “The atmosphere they are creating at games has helped get extra out of the group and has inspired everyone on to want to push even harder and see how far we can go.”

“The support was a massive part of my recruitment in pre-season. Every player I spoke to mentioned how great our supporters were and how great it is to play in front of a big crowd. We really hope this season we can continue the bond between the players and the supporters, and we are pushing hard to make sure we have a positive season to reward everyone who has stuck by us during the moments of adversity during recent seasons.”

Make sure you get your tickets to help drive the Canaries on to victory this weekend. You can grab them here in advance for a cheaper price than on the gate on Saturday afternoon: https://hitchintownfc.ktckts.com/event/hit2526fac2qr/hitchin-town-v-stalbans-city-fa-cup

Matt Furniss