Matt Cusack will be reminding his Saltash United players how special the Cornwall Senior Cup is before the holders take on Falmouth Town in the final at Bodmin’s Priory Park on Easter Monday (2pm kick-off).

The Ashes’ manager, who has played as well as managed in the competition, told the Cornish Times: ‘I’ve always made my players aware of how special and prestigious this cup is.

‘There have been some good footballers at this level who have never achieved success in the Senior Cup, or even reached a final. So I will be reminding my squad on Monday about this.’

Looking ahead to the Falmouth showdown, Cusack said: ‘We’re going to have to be at our very best on the day to get the better of them.

‘They always pose a threat because they have good, fast, attacking players, and they are very strong at set plays too.

‘I have the utmost respect for Westy (Falmouth manager Andy Westgarth), who has done a fabulous job. He’s managed to keep that squad together despite some of their players being targeted by other clubs.

‘We have met twice already this season, with us beating them 4-3 at Kimberley Stadium, and them beating us 2-1 down at Bickland Park, so there is not much between us.’

This will be Saltash’s third successive Senior Cup final, having beaten Mousehole in last season’s showpiece at St Blazey, a year after losing to Bodmin Town at Helston.

Cusack said: ‘We are ready, it is our cup at the moment, and we are going into the final in very good shape, with nine wins on the bounce. It’s a very happy camp.’

A key man for the Ashes will be striker Sam Hughes. His influence on the team is often best measured when he doesn’t play.

Hughes was unavailable for both league games against Cullompton Rangers in March and an off colour Saltash suffered successive defeats inside five days. Cusack said: ‘Sam is the best number nine in the league in my opinion. He’s the focal point of how we attack.

‘Apart from last Friday’s game at Torpoint where young Reece Thomson played up front and had a great game, we’ve struggled to solve the absence of Sam Hughes.

‘But since those Cullompton defeats, the players have bounced back very well and every game, every win, has been important in generating momentum.’

Saltash (from): R Rickard, D Barker, C Martindale, L Russell, C O’Brien, C Menhenick, R Maddison, S Farrant, S Hughes, R Richards, D Lewis, S Sargison, S Leary, S Cleary, D Trott, L Edwards, R Thomson, J Simmonds, S Hillier (gk).