The New Saints boss Scott Ruscoe says his side is ready for the battle against Connah’s Quay tonight in the Nathaniel MG Cup semi-final.

Saints travel to Deeside tonight (7.45pm) looking to reach a fourth straight final and keep their quadruple hopes alive in Ruscoe’s first season as boss.

Ruscoe knows his side will have to do the dirty side of the game if they are to reach the final but is confident of a victory.

“Tonight will be very strong side at Connah’s Quay and we’ll be trying to combat their game, such as the long ball,” said the TNS boss

“They bang the ball forward every chance they chance, and they’ve got a long throw that they get into the box whenever they can.

“Our team is going to be set up in mind of being dogged and organised and then if need be in the second half, the technical players will come on.”

Though a semi-final, TNS will be the away team as Connah’s Quay were awarded home advantage through the draw and Ruscoe admitted he would have preferred a chance to play them at home.

He added: “I think being the ‘away’ team in a semi-final will help the mentality.

“But I would prefer to play them at home because we can get the ball down and pass it. I think 80 per cent of our side is, man-for-man, better than their’s and on our pitch, we’re always the strong favourites.

“But on their pitch? Well, they don’t always look after it and it might be a bit rutted or whatever have you so we’ll have to roll our sleeves up and battle.

“We’ll do the exact same things we do in the league and we know we should have won against them there but for a couple of mistakes.

“We’ll do everything we can tonight to make sure we’re in the same vein of form and stand up to everything they throw at us.”