"We'll do our best to beat whoever's put in-front of us" - Halifax boss Millington insists chaos surrounding National League play-offs won't derail The Shaymen

The Shaymen sealed their top seven finish with a 3-0 win at Eastleigh yesterday, setting up what they thought was a trip to Altrincham on Wednesday in a play-off eliminator.

News broke earlier today that Gateshead would not be competing in the play-offs due to not meeting EFL criteria, with the league announcing that Solihull, who were due to play Gateshead, had been given a bye into the semi-finals.

But that was followed by another announcement that Altrincham had instead been given the bye and that Halifax would instead be visiting Solihull on Wednesday, and if they win that game, will be facing Barnet away next Saturday rather than the trip to Bromley on Sunday they would have originally faced.

"First and foremost I'm disappointed for Gateshead, I think they've really worked hard this season, they've contributed a lot to the league season and to be unable to compete for the prize we're all chasing is an incredibly disappointing outcome for them and the integrity of the competition," Millington told the Courier.

"So my sympathies are for the players, the staff and the fans of Gateshead first and foremost.

"And then, just really disappointed in the whole way it's been handled.

"We spent some time on that long trip back from Eastleigh on Saturday doing the early stages of our statistical analysis on Altrincham, planning and preparing the video analysis, organising our training programme and people at the club have been working very hard to prepare the travelling and the logistical preparations for Wednesday, and then obviously we had the ensuing chaos today.

"So just a bit disappointed with the whole way it's been handled and I feel a sense of smypahy towards Gateshead."

Instead of a trip to Moss Lane on Wednesday, Town will now visit Solihull's Damson Park instead.

"It doesn't really matter to us, we'll do our best to beat whoever's put in-front of us," Millington said.

"We like playing at Solihull, we've performed well there in the last couple of seasons.

"We won last season and we feel we should have won there this season.

"Obviously it's a new game and a new set of circumstances but we go there full of confidence off the back of what we've come through over the last week or so."

On whether Town would have the time needed to properly prepare for their new opponents, the Halifax boss said: "We'll make the time, there's no way we're going to let this opportunity slip by being under-prepared.

"We'll make sure we do everything we can to arrive there in the best possible shape to win the game, so yeah, we'll find the time.

"There's been things going on this afternoon, there's been games watched, footage clipped as we speak, so we're well on our way to preparing everything we need to prepare to go into the game ready to get the win."

Millington added: "Like I've mentioned previously, there's a no regrets, no excuses attitude from the staff and the squad, so we won't allow these situations to undermine us.

"It is quite amusing that it's victims of it. Altrincham get a bye and obviously they get the extra day to prepare for the game at the weekend, as do Bromley.

"We're the ones who have to travel down to Solihull and obviously we'll have less fans than we would have done had it been at Altrincham.

"And then we only get a couple of days' turnaround before we have to play at the weekend if we're successful against Solihull.

"So it's just typical isn't it, we're the ones who are on the rough end of the deal, but we've proved already in the last couple of weeks, it just serves to make us stronger and make us more committed and more determined to prove everybody wrong."

The Town players will have a rest day tomorrow before coming back in to training on Tuesday.

"Because of the week we had last week, it was a schedule that was thrust upon us and was out of our control, and the incredible distance we've had to cover for the Eastleigh game, the lads won't be in on Monday but there'll be an awful lot of meetings with staff, making sure we're fully prepared and that the session we deliver on Tuesday is incredibly comprehensive," said Millington.

"And then in terms of our analysis and team selection and making sure we get the freshest group of players to go out and perform on Wednesday night is what we'll be focusing our energies on."