MANAGER Steve Watson has insisted York City are taking Saturday's FA Cup tie at Buxton as seriously as last week's league clash with fellow high-fliers King's Lynn Town.

Third qualifying round opponents Buxton currently sit rock bottom of the Northern Premier League premier division, one tier and 43 places below National League North table-toppers York, and without a league win this term.

However, Watson - who has previously stated his fondness for the competition - says there is no room for complacency in either attitude or personnel changes. Squad selection, he assured, will remain how it has been throughout the season, with those picked meriting their place, rather than being handed "game time".

He said: "I think any time you're in a cup game and you're in a league higher, you're expected by most people to go through the rounds, but we've seen over the years that the FA Cup doesn't always stick to that storyline.

"All I can say is we've done everything we can this week. We've done training and we've taken Buxton every bit as seriously as we did for King's Lynn.

"Giving people game time is for friendlies," Watson added. "I don't believe in doing that in a big cup competition.

"We organised the game against Hull last week not to replicate how King's Lynn were going to play, I was thinking about getting 45 minutes into those who needed it.

"This week is a big cup competition that we're desperately keen to do well in, so if anybody comes in it's because they deserve to play or if there's an injury. It won't be to give people game time.

"Tom Allan did great against Irlam but because of the injuries, I picked a bench last week to cover all eventualities. With having Newts, Harry and Fergy on the pitch, I didn't need another left-sided defender on the bench. That's how we're working every week.

"Tom Allan did nothing, Wes did nothing wrong, and they found themselves not stripped.

"That's why we've got a good squad and big squad, and I keep them informed of why I do it. You might well see Tom Allan starting again this week."

The Bucks, meanwhile, have enjoyed two good wins in the Cup this season to get to this stage, beating Step 4 outfits Romulus and Corby Town 4-0 and 5-0, respectively.

It was 47 seasons ago the last time they made it to the first round proper.

Watson said: "It's a cup game. They're at home and they'll be wanting to try and get something.

"I don't know enough about them. I went down to watch them on Tuesday night and the game was cancelled but I've chatted to two or three managers to get a rough idea of how they play.

"But we don't change the way we play and I don't think there's any need to.

"I don't set up with a specific way of making this many passes or sitting back this way.

"The lads know the system, even the lads coming into the team. It's a system we've worked on all summer and every week in training.

"There's no set-out way of playing with the ball, we take it as the game comes.

"We're prepared for anything," he continued. "We are where we are, we're confident, we play the way we play and we're ready for every eventuality."

Buxton often deploy a 4-4-1-1 formation, with former York loanee Diego De Girolamo playing a free role behind striker Liam Hardy.

The 31-year-old is the longest-serving of the current Buxton crop, having played with the Silverlands side over four seasons across two spells. His 126 goals in 183 appearances makes him the second-highest Buxton goalscorer of the last half-century.

"The striker sounds like a handful, a bit similar to the man at Guiseley," Watson said.

"But we've seen teams change systems for us - usually at our place - but we won't know until we get there.

"Training's been geared to not letting the standards drop and keeping our work rate, our concentration levels and discipline the same as they were last week.

"We won't always play brilliantly and we may have to grind out results along the way but as long as we've got that solid base and that attitude, standards are always high and we've always got a chance."

Thursday saw medium-term absentee Steve McNulty back in his first training session since injuring his hamstring against Gateshead but Watson is reluctant to risk him on the 3G pitch. Harry Spratt (ankle) and Andy Bond (hamstring) are also potential absentees.