Ian Allinson has hit out at the FA ahead of St Albans City’s FA Cup clash with Corinthian Casuals saying they are being “punished for somebody else’s mistake”.

The Saints originally thought they would be playing Whyteleafe after the Leafs won their replay against Corinthians.

However, they had played a suspended player and were duly kicked out pending an appeal with the Casuals reinstated.

That wasn’t heard until Friday meaning City still didn’t know their opponents, a situation that did not please the City boss.

He said: “Up until 4pm on Friday afternoon we still didn’t know what was going on and so that’s not be good in terms of our planning and preparation.

“A lot of people have to look at themselves and the way it’s been handled and I’m talking about the FA.

“It’s taken too long to get to where we are and now we’ve got to play Corinthian Casuals and with a small squad of 16, we’ve been punished for somebody else’s mistake.”

City head into the game against the Bostik Premier Division side in fine form though, with their victory over Chelmsford on Saturday making it four wins in a row.

And Allinson is pleased with how things are going.

He said: “We got a little bit fragile after the Oxford and Hampton defeats and felt a little bit sorry for ourselves so we made some changes.

“We’ve just settled things down but we still need to plan and prepare properly for Corinthians and if we get through that we can plan and prepare for Taunton.

“It’s going to be a tough game [and until Saturday] they hadn’t conceded many goals so we’re going to have to be on our mettle.

“But we want to be going to Taunton on Saturday and that’s the most important thing.”