WIMBORNE boss Tim Sills hopes that tomorrow’s standout cup tie with Torquay United will be a “fantastic occasion” for the club.

Magpies received a plum draw when they were paired with National South outfit Torquay United in the second round of qualifying.

Sills is a firm fan-favourite at Torquay thanks to his goal-scoring contributions in two-and-a-half years in Devon, including a strike at Wembley that helped secure the Gulls’ return to the Football League in 2009.

The personal connection combined with the gulf in size between the two clubs has led to extra media attention, with Sills hoping the game lives up to pre-match expectation.

He told the Daily Echo: “It's been a busy couple of weeks, everything that's going on in local football and also our FA Cup draw.

“It's been brilliant for the club and it's great for myself that it's attracted such attention and gives us a chance as a club to really put on what should hopefully be a fantastic occasion.

“Really showcase what the club's all about.”

Over 1,250 tickets have already been sold for the encounter, with fans able to buy tickets at the ticket office on the day.

Breaking the club’s attendance record is currently unattainable, a capacity of 2,500 meaning the 3,200 strong crowd that watched Magpies’ FA Vase semi-final victory over Bamber Bridge at the old Cuthbury will remain unsurpassable for the present time.

However, an attendance record at New Cuthbury will be set, easily eclipsing the 1,044 that watched Magpies draw with Bideford on the final day of the last campaign.

Sills hopes that bumper crowds at Wimborne will become the norm in future, anticipating this his charges are well up for playing in front of more people.

“Luckily locally with the support, which is so good for Poole v Dorchester, Dorch v Weymouth, and things like that and even the Poole v Wimborne games, a lot of them would have played in similar sized crowds,” he explained.

“Those that haven't, it will be a great experience and something that they should all be trying to work towards playing in front of week in, week out.

“That's what we're working towards at Wimborne as well.

“But we just need to make sure that we play the game and not the occasion.

“We realise the size of the task ahead of us, two leagues above.

“They've won six out of the last seven, a point off the top and are a massive club at that level.

“They're a massive club at the level above as well.

“So we're under no illusions of just how tough it will be.

“But again, home advantage and the way we've started the season, we still go into it full of confidence, but without any pressure.”

Despite an exit out of the FA Trophy at the first hurdle last weekend at the hands of Exmouth, the tie with Torquay represents Wimborne’s fifth game in cup competitions this season, having only played four times in the league.

Sills continued: “It's nice to have distractions.

“There's plenty of them at our level at the start of the season.

“The fact that we've played more cup games than we have league games, it's always a good thing because it means you're on a little bit of a run.

“They are welcome distractions.

“The league obviously is the bread and butter.

“That's what we want to really be progressing in.

“But, it's nice that this Saturday we get a chance to not only play without pressure, but to really test ourselves against a team a couple of levels above, which is ultimately where we want to get to in the next three, four, maybe five years.”