Richard Slater, manager of Chigwell Athletic, believes that his side has nothing to lose ahead of Sunday's JC Cyril Anekstein Cup trip to Premier Division leaders Hendon United Sports Club A.

The tie is the stand-out fixture as Maccabi football resumes following a two-week winter break.

Lying fourth in Division One, Slater warns that his troops will not be making the trip to north west London to make up the numbers. Back-to-back wins over London Maccabi Lions C and Montana Boca United A see them go into the new year in confident mood, although Slater knows that treble-chasing Hendon will be a different proposition.

"At present, Hendon are the best side in the MSFL, so we're all aware of how difficult the game will be for us. But we're on a good run of form and I believe in my players."

Chigwell welcomes back Dean Ben Yosef and Neil Tilley. Slater said: "Confidence is high and the spirit is great so we'll go there and take the game to Hendon with nothing to fear."

Another big game sees joint-leaders Blizzard Storm and Glenthorne United B go head to head in Division Four.

Simon Linden, the Blizzard boss, averted a goalkeeping crisis earlier this week by signing Oli Simons to fill in for Nick Rubin. The experienced stopper could not have asked for a tougher debut as he comes up against Fabio Revieccio, the division's top-scorer.

While his counterpart, Elliot Coulton, stubbornly insists on talking down his side's title credentials, Linden is relishing the contest. "What a huge game to enter the new year with," he said. "It's the type of match my players want to be involved in."

Linden is confident that a lack of match sharpness will not hamper their plans ahead of their biggest game to date, although he will be missing Adam Nathan, Joe Stolerman and Nick Rubin.

"I'm proud of how well we have done so far," said Linden. "The strength in our squad is very good. Glenthorne have been that little bit better so far, so all I can ask is for 110 per cent and hopefully that will pull us through."