CHIPPENHAM Town prepared for their FA Cup fourth qualifying round tie away at Hendon on Saturday by snatching a point against St Albans City in the 96th minute of their National League South clash last weekend.

After Shaun Jeffers had nodded City in front from close range, Chippenham managed their way back into the game and were the better side after the break.

The reinvigorated Bluebirds’ found the equaliser in the dying seconds after Will King had powered a volley into the bottom corner following a long, hopeful punt forward.

Reflecting on the game post-match, Horgan was delighted to see his side rescue some sort of reward but felt they arguably deserved more.

Horgan said: “It was a really good point. In the end, we’re probably disappointed because I thought we did enough to win the game in the second half.

“But it was a game of two halves really. They were much better than us in the first, but we were much better than them in the second half.

“It was a really, really good point, but when you reflect on it, it does feel like two points dropped.

“It would be nicer if we were making things a bit easier for ourselves, but it shows great character from the squad that they never seem to know when they’re beaten – that’s a great quality to have.”

A slow start over the past couple of weeks has threatened to de-rail Chippenham’s quest for victory, although they have managed to avoid defeat in both matches.

But with an in-form Hendon next up and a potential tie with League One big boys, Derby County or Ipswich Town up for grabs, Horgan is keen for his players to start quickly against their Southern League opponents in order to make a more comfortable afternoon for the Bluebirds.

He said: “It’s something that we’ve talked about over the last couple of weeks as a group.

“We’ve talked about seeing if there is anything we can do better, and it’s something that we’re looking to correct over the next couple of weeks.

“It becomes really important because if you keep giving teams a chance, sooner or later, that stubbornness that we talked about earlier, you’re not going to come back from it.

“We had a tough game against Met Police in the round before – they were in the division below – and we’ve watched a couple of Hendon’s games back. We think we’re in for a really tough game.

“We don’t take anyone lightly, and we’ll be going out there looking for a fast start and to win the game.”