Pickering Town boss Alex Mathie reacted to the draw for the quarter-finals of the FA Vase with a shrug of the shoulders after seeing an all- Northern Counties East League clash teed up.

The Pikes had been hoping to avoid playing another NCEL team but they will now travel on March 4 to face the winners of Buxton's postponed tie at Nantwich Town.

Buxton, the runaway premier division leaders, are the only other team from the NCEL left in the hat following Arnold Town's exit on Saturday.

"It's a bit disappointing," said Mathie, who had preferred to face new opposition.

"It would have been nice if the two Northern Counties East clubs had been kept apart but saying that, Buxton have got to beat Nantwich first.

"And we've already beaten them once this season.

"To get two stages further than you've ever done before is a great achievement and it's great to be able to lead the players through."

Pickering's 2-1 win at Wimborne Town in the fith round on Saturday was not without its downside, however, as some ten players from that 18-man squad will be missing for tonight's NCEL Cup quarter-final at Selby Town.

Former York City player and assistant-manager Lee Nogan limped out of the Vase clash with a thigh strain after just 20 minutes and will be unavailable for at least a couple of weeks.

Also out are Mark and Steve Swales, Michael McNaughton, Ricky Greening, Matthew Morton, Dean MacAuley and Steve Roberts, leaving fit-again player-manager Mathie - who thought he had played his last game of the season after snapping a hamstring before Christmas - as a contender for the bench.

But despite the roll-call at the physio stretching longer than the average queue for the NHS dentist, Mathie is pitching for another win.

"At the end of the day, we can't do anything about it," he shrugged.

"You want to win every cup you can get and I feel we have got a good enough team to do so."

He added: "The players give me everything they have got. We have got a great team spirit - a great dressing room - and that takes the club a long way.

"We took a squad of 18 down for Saturday. Two didn't make the 16 and I had to drop Lee Pallender to the bench because he's played every single match this season. The way these boys reacted to it was absolutely fantastic - they really typified the team spirit."

Selby Town are not without their own absentees for the cup encounter with both centre-halves under a cloud.

Andrew Cox may be missing due to work commitments, while Andrew Dawson strained his thigh in Saturday's 1-0 premier division defeat of Glapwell and will be the subject of a late fitness check.

Updated: 10:07 Tuesday, February 14, 2006