Shaw Lane AFC are devastated that the Football Association upheld the decision to remove them from the FA Trophy but have vowed that it will not distract them from winning their league.
The Ducks were thrown out of the cup, in which they had won four games and been due to host their biggest ever match against National League high-flyers Lincoln City, despite an appeal and a trip to Wembley for their chairman Craig Wood on Tuesday.
Manager Craig Elliott, whose side have won 14 games in a row, said: "I am disappointed with the FA, not just for the decision but the whole process and the way it has been handled. We have had to cancel games and it has just dragged on and on. It leaves a sour taste.
"The FA are supposed to be a professional organisation but I don't think they have handled this very professionally."
Elliott is particularly aggrieved that the FA were only made aware of Alex Byrne being suspended for the previous FA Trophy match because the Ducks contacted them to ask about his disciplinary record.
The 12-goal winger had been registered by a different name and date of birth by previous club Northwich and had picked up five bookings for the two teams this season, so should have been suspended for the Ducks' win against Nantwich in the previous round.
Elliott said: "Our honesty has cost us. "If we had buried it, we would probably have got away with it. I have spoken to people at other clubs who say their players have been registered under two names before but it never came back to bite them like it has with us.
"It's not our fault. We have tried to do the right thing."
Shaw Lane will look for their 15th successive victory in all competitions in their first game for two weeks when they host Rushden and Diamonds tomorrow. Elliott says his squad must now move on from the FA Trophy saga and try to extend their two-point lead at the top of the Evo-Stik Division One South.
"It's harsh and unfair but it is what it is and we have to get on with it. My job is to pick the players up now and make sure we don't dwell on this. We have been on a fantastic run and our momentum has gone a little bit because we haven't been playing.
"We need to focus firmly back on our main aim for the season which is to get promoted. We want to keep this run going as long as we can.
"Rushden are a big club for our division. There were 500 people there when we played them earlier in the season and they still have a decent fanbase form when they were a Football League club."
The FA have declined to comment on Shaw Lane's removal from the FA Trophy but are hoping to release the appeal board's findings in the next week.
