Mark Bower says Guiseley are taking this weekend’s FA Trophy trip to Dulwich Hamlet “very seriously” as he declared: “We want to go all the way.”

The Lions boss is hugely respectful of the competition and is expecting a stern test in the capital against a Dulwich side who currently top the Ryman Isthmian Premier Division.

They saw off promotion rivals Enfield Town 2-0 at home last Saturday in front of a season-best crowd of 2,249 and Bower will not take the Londoners lightly.

He said: “We’re taking this weekend’s game very seriously because we want to go as far as we can in the FA Trophy.

“North Ferriby won the competition last season and from our point of view it’s an opportunity to go all the way to the final.

“The league is obviously the priority but we’ll head to Dulwich this weekend looking to get into the next round.

“It’s another long trip for us, so we will go down on Friday and make sure the players have the best possible preparation and are ready to do a job on Saturday afternoon. They’re top of their league and have a great following, so it should be an interesting one.

“We saw Chorley and Fylde do well from the Conference North last season and Dulwich are in a similar mould as they look to win promotion to the Conference South.

“There is a good chance they will achieve that, so we know it’s going to be a really tough game.”

Guiseley’s scheduled National League home game against Forest Green last weekend was postponed because of a waterlogged pitch at Nethermoor.

The free weekend has allowed a number of Bower’s players the opportunity to edge closer to full fitness after injuries.

Bower added: “We were going to be without eight players against Forest Green and another one was due to have a fitness test.

“But we should certainly have a few back in the fold this weekend, so maybe Saturday’s postponement wasn’t such a bad thing.

“Rob Atkinson and Ben Parker have just come back into training and another week behind them will certainly push them along and get them a bit closer.

“Adam Lockwood, who was struggling for last weekend, and Oliver Norburn, should be among a few players available to make us stronger on Saturday compared to last weekend.

“We have had a two-week break in between games and the lads will be itching to get back out there and play football again.”