Leatherhead boss Richard Brady said his charges never make life easy for themselves after a narrow 1-0 win over Tooting & Mitcham saw them progress in the FA Cup.

The Tanners now face Carshalton Athletic of the Ryman Premier in the first round qualifying at Fetcham Grove on September 14.

This weekend, Leatherhead and Tooting & Mitcham go head to head again at Fetcham Grove in Ryman Division One South.

Brady said: “It was a difficult cup tie, and they made things very difficult for us.

“But we should have been 2-0 up just after half-time and 3-0 up a bit later, but we never make life easy for ourselves.”

He added: “But we’re in the next round, which is really important for us as a club.

“We’ll get the FA cash [£1,925], and we’re hopeful that Carshalton will bring a good crowd so gate receipts should be up as well.”

Brady is not keen on the idea of playing Craig Tanner’s Terrors so soon after the cup clash, but he admits it could have been worse.

He said: “Playing so close is not ideal.

“Admittedly, you don’t have to do the scouting because both teams know what the other one is about, but a change is as good as a rest and sometimes it can get staid.

“At least we didn’t draw on Saturday otherwise we would have been playing each other three times in a week, and that is crazy.”

He added: “Tooting have some good players but we’re thinking more about ourselves and how we perform, that’s the most important thing.”

Your Local Guardian:

Shot-stopper: Tooting’s Paul Smith keeps Leatherhead at bay, but the Tanners would run out 1-0 winners in the FA Cup clash at Fetcham Grove    SP73087

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