"It can only serve as a motivator to want to do it again" - Millington sets sights on retaining FA Trophy

The Shaymen lifted the trophy for only the second time in their history by beating Gateshead at Wembley in May, seven years after the first success in the competition.

And they start their defence of the FA Trophy on Saturday at home to Altrincham, who they beat in an unforgettable semi-final to reach Wembley last term, knocking The Robins out on penalties after Milli Alli's last-gasp equaliser.

"It brings it all back, that wonderful day at Moss Lane where it all became very real, the prospect of having the chance to go and win a national competition at Wembley," Millington told the Courier.

"It brings those memories flooding back and they serve as a great motivation and a great reminder that we want to try and do it all over again.

"It'll be a very tough test. I think Alty were six points ahead of us in the league going into that tie, and they were favourites to progress, and when we finished the season we were in the top-half of the table and FA Trophy winners and they were in the bottom half. So we won't get to distracted by who’s favourite at this stage.

"I remember a number of the pundits pegged them as the favourites and will do again because they're above us in the league, they've got a game in hand and they're a very different club to the one we played 12 months ago with what's gone on there, the huge investment, recruiting EFL players, paying fees for players, not to mention the increased spending on infrastructure.

"So everyone will peg Alty as the favourites and they'll be looking at this as a very real possibility of earning some silverware, along with the heightened pressure they've got now to be fighting for promotion.

"So we go into it, I'm sure, as the underdogs from the view of people on the outside but from the inside we feel we've got everything we need to go and win the game."

When asked if he thought winning the competition just over six months ago makes Town more or less motivated to win it again, Millington said: "More really. I can only speak for myself and the staff I've spoken to on this but we want to go down as the team who defended the FA Trophy.

"So there's an extra motivation there.

"For those lads who experienced it with us last season, it's such a wonderful experience, it can only serve as a motivator to want to do it again.

"Winning titles and trophies does that. A lot of players never get to do it once, to win a trophy at Wembley, so having done it once is a privilege but it does serve as a huge motivator to want to go and do it again."

Millington doesn't see any reason why a run in the FA Trophy would hamper Halifax's league ambitions, and believes it could actually have the opposite effect.

"We want to win every competition we're capable of winning and clearly, we're capable of winning the FA Trophy because we're defending champions," he said.

"So we want to set off on that.

"We've got to face the harsh reality that last season we did play some tricky ties and all away from home - we had Maidenhead, Aldershot and Altrincham all away, Gateshead at Wembley was a tough challenge.

"So you do have to beat some of the best teams in the competition to win it and we did that last season.

"This season it starts off with one of the best teams in the competition. It'll be a real big challenge for us and we won't take that lightly.

"But we want to win on all fronts and I don't see an FA Trophy run necessarily getting in the way of a good league run.

"In fact, as our Trophy run last year gained momentum, so did our league form and we went a significant period of time, as we were winning some tough ties in the FA Trophy, going unbeaten in the league as well.

"So they don't necessarily need to be mutually exclusive, we can take them both hand-in-hand and a good FA Trophy run can spark good competition for places, it can spark a real positive mood around the camp and that can have its benefits in and around the league form as well."

Jamie Cooke and Angelo Cappello could both be available for Saturday's game after recovering from injuries.

"We've got an improving number of players available, we still want more back from injury and they are making their way back," Millington said when asked if he would be fielding his strongest side.

"But given the numbers we've got available at the moment, we'll certainly be putting a team out to go and win the game."