STUART Lake insists he will show former side Ashford Town (Middx) no mercy when the two sides meet in the FA Cup first qualifying round tomorrow.

Lake started his career at Short Lane before leaving Ashford for the first of two spells at Hampton in 2006, returning to Beveree from Basingstoke this summer.

But with Hampton facing a dogfight at the wrong end of the Ryman Premier, Lake hopes seeing off his old pals will provide a boost for the league battles to come.

He said: “It's been a long time since I was at Ashford, and will be interesting to see what they are like now. But we'll be going for it – it's been too easy for teams coming here.

“We would be expected to beat them, but anything can happen in the cup. They will be up for it, but it's important we don't become victims of an upset, and a win can push us on.

“But at the moment we're not getting the results or performing, and we need to improve quickly or changes will have to be made – it's not been good enough.

“It's a young team, compared to when I was first here, and it will take time, but we need to be able to close games down. There is a lack of intelligence and know-how.

“There is no consistency either. In my first spell you could pretty much name the team from week to week, allowing key partnerships to form, but that's just not the case now.”