BRADFORD Town and Melksham Town begin their FA Vase adventures this weekend – although they will have to triumph on the road if they want to progress any further in the competition.

The Wiltshire pair were both been given byes into Saturday’s second round as a result of progressing all the way to the fourth round last season but face stiff tasks in their opening assignments.

Danny Greaves takes his Bradford side to Toolstation Premier Division rivals Buckland Athletic, while Kieran Baggs’ Melksham are away at Wantage Town, of the Hellenic Premier Division.

Although Greaves would have preferred to face a side outside of his own league, the fact Bradford have already claimed a 2-1 win at Buckland this term has given him a reason for optimism.

“When we saw the draw, we were disappointed, and I’m sure they were disappointed when they saw it too, but if you want to progress in this competition, you have to play the stronger teams eventually. I am sure that is how both teams will look at it,” said Greaves.

“We will take a bit of confidence from our last win down there earlier in the season, but we know it will be a tough game, even if their results have not been that brilliant of late.

“We had a decent run in the Vase last season and this season is all about trying to do everything a little bit better than we did last season.

“We got knocked out in the extra preliminary qualifying round of the FA Cup at the start of the season, so we want to make up for that.

“We want to go to Buckland and progress as the Vase is an important competition for the club.”

Meanwhile, Melksham can be forgiven for daring to dream as they look to carry their formidable league form on in the Vase.

The trip to Wantage comes following a run of six wins on the trot for the Oakfields side without conceding a goal.

Melksham assistant manager Luke Ballinger said: “At the back of everyone’s mind is that we have got a squad capable of doing well.

“The two things to consider are firstly, that it comes down to the draw, and secondly, Wantage are a good side who came down a league from last year and are around the same level as us in the Hellenic League.

“But we are performing with lots of confidence and on our day, we can beat anyone at our level.

“First and foremost, we have got to be hard to beat. We know we can score goals but with the defensive set-up, everyone knows their jobs.

“It’s about having a balanced performance all over the pitch. Wantage have technical players and it’s just about being patient when we get the ball and making sure we do what we do.”