Motormen have busy period coming up with three matches in the space of six days

Redbridge can take a step closer to winning two competitions over the next week, but joint-manager Dave Ross insists Saturday’s Ryman North fixture with Great Wakering Rovers is the most important.

The Motormen make the trip to Tilbury tonight (Thursday) to decide who gets through to the last four of the Essex Senior Cup.

And they welcome the Rebels to Oakside this weekend looking to pick up points and boost their chances of beating relegation.

Hendon are then the visitors for a London Senior Cup semi-final tie on Tuesday. It is an extremely busy period for Redbridge, but they have got their priorities sorted.

Ross said: “It would be great to make the semi-finals tonight, but our most important game this week is Great Wakering.

“That is no disrespect to the Essex Senior Cup or the London Senior Cup, but this Saturday is massive for us.

“We will not be going to Tilbury to make up the numbers, though, we want to reach the last four.

“If we do that then we’ll play Heybridge Swifts, which is a winnable game, and then maybe face Concord Rangers in the final.

“Everybody knows anything can happen on the day if you get that far and that’s what we aim to do.”

Redbridge were set to host the cup quarter-final with Tilbury on Tuesday, but poor weather left Oakside’s pitch waterlogged.

The tie was therefore switched to Chadfields Stadium for this evening, leaving Ross and Ricky Eaton with a tricky fixture spell and therefore the Motormen will be rotating their squad over the next six days.

“Getting players to recover in time from Thursday to Saturday will be very hard,” added the Redbridge boss. “It isn’t like when you play on Saturday and then again on Monday, it is completely different.

“We will be going from Thursday evening to Saturday afternoon, which is a much quicker turnaround compared to playing at the weekend and having another one on Monday evening.

“Tilbury have been on a bad run of late, but I’m sure their manager Gary Henty will sort it out. It will be a good, competitive game, but we won’t be taking a chance on people that aren’t 100 per cent fit if we need them for Saturday’s match in the league.”

After facing Ross’ old team, the Motormen will host Great Wakering and then hope to welcome Ryman Premier Hendon on Tuesday night.

But Redbridge haven’t played at home since losing 6-1 to local rivals Romford when the heavy rain left the pitch in a poor state.

“We have got to work on the pitch first to get both fixtures on, playing at Tilbury will benefit us in a way,” added Ross.

“It is one less match at Oakside, but obviously a disadvantage when we do play in the quarter-final because we have to travel away.”