ROBBIE Williams has grown accustomed to winning trophies in his six-year spell with Accrington Stanley.

UniBond titles, the Marsden Trophy, the Peter Swailes Charity Shield - you name it, the defender has probably collected it since joining the Reds in 1999.

Williams has the chance to be in line for adding another piece of silverware to his burgeoning trophy cabinet when Stanley compete for a place in the GLS Conference Cup final when they take on Stalybridge Celtic in the northern final tonight (kick-off 7.45pm).

But the centre half, who turns 26 next Tuesday, admits he would swap cup glory for a place in the Conference play-offs.

"I would take the play-offs every day. Definitely," Williams insisted.

"The prize at the end of it is bigger than the Conference Cup, and Marsden Trophy, and possibly a better experience too.

"Obviously it would be nice to win all three, which is what we'll be aiming to do.

"But we've been working towards the play-offs since we got promoted.

"After Saturday, we've left ourselves with a mountain to climb and will probably have to win all of our four remaining games against good sides.

"But we have tended to do better against the top teams. Teams up there have still got to play each other so we've not given up hope, it's just about how we apply ourselves."

And Williams admitted that tonight's northern final at Bower Fold could be a blessing in disguise rather than a distraction.

"It will be a good chance to get the weekend out of our system," he said.

"We were all disappointed after the Crawley game but you can't let that affect you too much when you look ahead.

"The good thing about gootball is that games come around quickly and, when you get a bad result, the next game isn't far away to try to put it right."

Stanley have beaten Tamworth, Northwich Victoria and York City - all at home - to get to this stage since joining the competition at the third round.

Stalybridge, who have been in the cup since round one, have beaten Bradford, Lancaster, Halifax, Worksop and Morecambe.

Former Stanley midfielder Dean Calcutt joined Celtic in the summer but has since gone to Bradford Park Avenue on loan.

The home side will be without new signing Scott Willis as he is cup-tied after playing for Runcorn, otherwise they hope to have a full squad to choose from should Craig Dootson pass a fitness test.

Tonight's winners will face southern final winners Woking on April 27. The venue will be decided on the toss of a coin with the winning team hosting the game.

We have lost only three times this year, and in our last ten matches, we have won six, drawn three and lost one.

Craig Dootson picked up a knock at Morecambe. He was rested against Worksop, and will undergo a fitness check ahead of the game on Tuesday night. New signing Scott Willis is cup tied in the competition, having appeared for Runcorn, otherwise, there is a full squad to chose from. Including Mark Atkins, who played against Morecambe, and did very well. There had been six changes to the squad in that game, and it would be expected that neither team field full strength sides, with the league side of things taking a priority.

The winners of the match will face Woking on Wednesday the 27th of April. The venue currently will be decided on the toss of a coin, with the winning team hosting the event.