Ricky Marheineke dedicated St Ives Town’s historic FA Cup run to the club’s tireless volunteers and insists the shackles will be off.

The Saints will play their first ever FA Cup fourth qualifying round tie at home to FC Halifax Town this Saturday after breezing past Chasetown earlier this month.

National League strugglers Halifax stand in their way of the first round proper.

And Ives boss Marheineke knows his Pitching In Southern League Premier Central side will need to play out of their skin to cause an upset.

Marheineke said: “There’s just so many volunteers to thank. Nigel and Marina Howlett, Paul Reason, Graham Dolling, Dave Hook and many more.

“Without those people non-league just wouldn’t exist.

“I think every manager at every club would be able to give you 10-15 names that all play a really important role and without them, we wouldn’t be able to function.”

Two tiers separate St Ives and Halifax, who sit 20th in non-league's top tier.

But with the Shaymen travelling down to Westwood Road, Marheineke’s men can call on a bumper home crowd.

“I was well aware that we hadn’t got past the third qualifying round and it’s not about us as a group of players or me as a manager,” said Marheineke.

“Making history and these sorts of occasions are firstly for the chairman, his wife and the directors and secondly for the supporters.

“These sorts of occasions are few and far between; it’s nice to be able to give the supporters something they will remember and, hopefully on Saturday, that will be an occasion for them to remember too.”

This is Marheineke’s ninth season in charge of St Ives, clinching promotion to Step 3 for the first time in 2016.

Some might have balked at drawing Halifax, who reached the National League play-offs last season, but Marheineke is relishing going full throttle against the Yorkshire club.

“I just really wanted a home draw and I wanted it to be a big club,” he added.

“Drawing a team like Halifax, they’re equipped and ready at any point to go from non-league into the Football League, so it’s a free hit for us.

“Halifax certainly won’t be looking forward to coming to us because it’s a massive banana skin game for them and a lot of pressure for them to beat us.

“If we play somewhere near our maximum and we catch Halifax on a really bad day, we’ve got a chance.”

*Ladbrokes, with the support of its owner Entain, has launched a multi-million-pound investment programme, Pitching In, designed to support and promote grassroots sports.

For more details, visit: https://entaingroup.com/sustainability/pitching-in/