It has been a very testing early season for Farsley but their backroom staff are happy in the knowledge that while form is temporary, class is permanent.

Farsley have won just two of their nine starts this term and potential money-spinning cup runs have turned into unfulfilled dreams.

They have suffered early exits from the FA Cup and FA Trophy and won just one of their four Evo-Stik Division One North League fixtures.

Manager Neil Parsley said: “It has been difficult but I have been very pleased with the performances so we are not unduly worried.”

Farsley have gone out of both the Cup and the Trophy in replays after being held at home by clubs from their own division. Their last defeat, in the Trophy in midweek, came with ten men.

Parsley explained: “Last Tuesday (a 1-0 loss at at Radcliffe Borough) we pressed in the first half and the second but were up against it.

“To lose a man after 52 seconds is going to mean you are on the back foot but I thought we created more with ten than we had with 11 in the three previous games. That should worry me thinking about it!”

His side can concentrate on the league now and Parsley says the focus will intensify.

Just four of those nine games have had points resting on them. The others have been cup games or replays and they have already been denied a local derby after their trip to Garforth Town was postponed due to the home club having no electricity or water supplies.

Parsley said: “It has been a difficult start with all that, and the injuries. It is not going to plan at the moment but we won’t be pressing any panic buttons. There is a long way to go this season and we hope to take our last display with us into tomorrow’s league game.

“Simeon Bambrook (knee injury) looks to be a long-term casualty and he is very influential, both on and off the pitch. We still have him in the dugout and the dressing room but he is our talisman on the pitch and in that sense is a huge loss.

“Ben Jones, Ryan Watson, Adam Priestley and Rob Pacey have all been either out or not fully fit so we have to battle through until we get a full squad. We all know football is unpredictable – it never goes to plan.”