PETERSFIELD Town will be looking to pick themselves up from their heavy FA Cup defeat at the weekend and kick-start their season into action at Fareham Town tonight (Tuesday).

The Rams were beaten 5-0 at Hellenic League Premier Division side Thatcham Town on Saturday in the Extra Preliminary Round stage of the competition.

Their quick exit from the road to Wembley means Petersfield return to Wessex Premier Division action straight away with a trip to Cams Alders.

The last time these two sides met in the league, the Rams were at their rampant best on their way to winning the Wessex Premier Division title.

Petersfield won at Love Lane 4-2 on December 6, 2014, and a week later they thrashed Fareham at Cams Alders 7-0.

Plenty has changed for both clubs since those matches and Fareham are currently enjoying something of a resurgence under manager Pete Stiles.

Petersfield expect another tough evening but chairman Graeme Moir stresses that these are experiences the current team must go through as they continue their development.

“Saturday’s defeat at Thatcham was a tough one to take but it is what we take from that experience and learn from it as we move forward that counts,” said Moir.

“Their manager Danny Robinson is a talented coach and he played a major part in the success Alresford Town enjoyed a few seasons ago.

“He has had two or three seasons to build his squad and get the team playing in the way he wants them to and that should be taken into account when you assess last Saturday’s game.

“Under our new manager Jim Macey we are just setting out on that journey and along the way we will no doubt experience some more afternoons and evenings like Thatcham until we get things where we want them to be.

“It’s what we take from those experiences that will count for us – we need to swallow our medicine as it were from days like this and move on from them but we also need to learn from them.

“If we don’t like results and performances like that we need to bottle up that feeling – nobody likes feeling like that after a game but remember how bad it feels and we can use that to move forward from this position and use it to improve so we don’t have another taste of it again.”

Fareham go into tonight’s encounter off the back of a 4-2 FA Cup win at Bashley over the weekend.

Moir added: “Pete Stiles has transformed Fareham’s fortunes since he took over at the club last season. They have some good young players and he has obviously got them playing how he wants them to when you look at their results.

“It will provide us with another tough test but with the game coming so soon after our FA Cup defeat it is a chance to get Saturday’s game out of our system and put in a performance which is closer to what we know we are capable of.”

Tuesday night’s game is being played at Cams Alders, Palmerston Avenue, Fareham, PO14 1RH. Kick-off is at 7.45pm.