CANVEY Island captain Richard Halle admits his side face an “unknown quantity” when Met Police visit in the FA Trophy this weekend.

The second qualifying round tie will be the first time the teams have played this season, despite the Gulls already having played a number of their league opponents twice.

Halle, 33, has been a fixture in the starting XI this term, adding experience to the back-line and helping them climb to fifth in the Ryman Premier League.

However, they were walloped 5-0 by Bognor Regis last weekend in what manager Danny Heale referred to as “a horror show”.

But Halle feels the Essex Senior Cup win over Barking has put his side back on track ahead of tomorrow’s cup game.

“We sent out a strong side against Barking and we needed to show something after the way we played at Bognor,” he said. “It was just a bad day at the office for all of us and sometimes these things do happen.

“We have been playing so well recently and we need to show people it was just a blip against a good Met Police team.

“We have played some good teams this season but we haven’t played Met Police so it will be a bit of an unknown quantity.

“I have played them enough times to know it will be a tough game as they are always organised and are a big and powerful side. But if we prepare right, and on our pitch, we will be confident of getting through.

“We know their manager (Jim Cooper) has been to watch us play a few times so they will know about us. It is our job to make sure we know enough about them to stop them causing us too many problems.”

Canvey have won nine of their last 12 games, including a 2-0 win at Needham Market in the first qualifying round in the Trophy.

Three of Canvey’s last four league goals have been scored by Halle or Glenn Poole, who made the move to the Frost Financial Stadium at the same time as his former Billericay skipper.

And Halle said having someone like Poole in the team is good for everyone.

“It is a great start and we have played some really strong sides in the league twice already which is a big boost,” added Halle. “I have settled back in well and it is a really good group we have here.

“Pooley and I are really good mates and it helps a lot having someone you know and trust in the team. We combine well and I think the team is much better with him in it. We have brought in good players too. Stokesy (Tony Stokes) and George Sykes show what we are about this season.”