Sloppy defending cost the Somerset Trojans dearly in Sunday’s drawn FA quarter-final at Somerset and in tonight’s replay at The Den (kick-off 8 p.m.) the Westenders realise that they will be further punished if they are equally loose against a formidable Devonshire Cougars team.

At home no team is tougher than the recently crowned Premier Division champions and the Trojans must be kicking themselves for having to replay them away after the two battled to a 3-3 tie in Somerset — after the Westenders blew a 2-0 lead at one stage.

Which is why Kwame Steede’s team are slightly favoured tonight, although the Trojans have long been a powerhouse in the competition and should have the ability to stretch the home team to the limit.

But Trojans’ assistant coach Paul Scope is well aware of their huge challenge, revealing that defensive errors led to them giving away things on Sunday when they appeared to be on the verge of going through to the next round.

“We played much better on Sunday than we have played in recent weeks, there certainly was a big improvement in intensity and effort and we were deservedly 2-0 ahead. But we just didn’t hold on to the lead,” said Scope.

“We made a couple of defensive lapses and Cougars, who never give up, took advantage and even when we went ahead in extra time they came back once again. We know they don’t give up and we also know that we have to play as well once again, but just cut out the defensive mistakes.”