Brady Stone has no intention of parking the bus in the FA Vase this weekend.

Ely City are preparing for their biggest challenge this season – an away test at higher-level Welwyn Garden City in the second round proper – and boss Stone says his men will take the game to their opponents, despite their recent form.

“I’ll tell the players to go and enjoy themselves,” said Stone.

“This might be the furthest we get in the competition for a while so we’ll go there and play with freedom.

“We’ve got absolutely nothing to lose. These are the types of games that you want to play in when you sign for Ely, so I want the lads to go out there and play with big smiles on their faces.”

The Robins go into Saturday’s crucial encounter on the back of another defeat in the Thurlow Nunn Division – a 4-2 loss at high-flying Felixstowe & Walton United.

A heroic performance saw Ely draw level on the coast thanks to strikes from George Darling and Alex Theobald, but the Seasiders were too strong and sent Stone’s side to their 10th defeat this term.

The Robins remain in the bottom three, but Stone says that if his men can continue to play positively then results will start to go their way.

“It was a funny game,” said Stone.

“I’ve said it before but if you don’t take your chances in this league then you get punished and that’s what happened to us.

“We’re creating loads of chances this season but we only seem to be taking them in cup competitions.

“We’re playing really well and playing some really attacking football and we gave it a real go on Saturday.

“We need to keep believing. If you go to Felixstowe & Walton and Stanway Rovers and create 10 chances then you’re obviously doing something right.

“The lads were down after the loss but we’ll go into the Vase game with nothing to lose.”