EVESHAM United have released former captain Lee Knight ahead of tomorrow's FA Cup first qualifying round clash at Tiverton Town (3pm).

The no-nonsense defender joined Midland Alliance outfit Alvechurch after being deemed surplus to requirements by Robins manager Dave Busst.

Former Solihull Borough man Knight was Busst's first signing when he took charge at Common Road in November 2003.

And his influential performances were a factor behind United's successful promotion campaign.

However, he suffered health concerns towards the end of last season and was ordered by doctors to take a break away from the sport.

Knight was given the all-clear to resume his playing career this summer, but he struggled to find his way back into the side.

"Lee has been a great servant to the club since I signed him," said Busst. "But we felt it was right to release him. What with his illness history and the fact that we've got plenty of quality in defence, we did not have the money to keep him."

United travel to Devon aiming to exact revenge after their 3-0 thrashing at Ladymead on the opening day of the season.

Busst admits his side were naive on that occasion but Evesham's 2-0 win over Aylesbury United last Saturday suggests they are slowly making progress in the Southern League Premier Division.

The Robins reverted to a 4-4-2 formation against Aylesbury and striker Richard Ball slammed in his first goals of the season. The formation will be used again as United aim to pocket a much-needed cup windfall.

Busst added: "We are not in awe of Tiverton, far from it. Since they beat us, they have lost five games and that's good for us.

"I'd like to think we can play as well as we did against Aylesbury. We changed the formation and made it compact so they could not break us down.

"Last season, the success we had was built on clean sheets. We have got to keep thinking along those lines and make ourselves difficult to beat."

Young goalkeeper Karl Lewis is ineligible tomorrow so Dave Adey returns to the club after plying his trade with Alvechurch this term.