Market Drayton Town officials have hit out at Shropshire FA’s decision to axe the club from the Shropshire Senior Cup again.

Drayton are the only side at their level in the country not to be represented in their county senior cup competition.

And club coach Mick Murphy said: “It is silly on so many levels. We feel we should have been rewarded for reaching this level but we’ve been left out again.

“We just want the opportunity to play a Shrewsbury or a Telford – we might not win, but every other team at our level in the country plays in their senior cup competition.

“Going back in history AFC Telford played in it after they re-formed so if it’s okay for them to play in it why can’t we?”

Drayton courted controversy last season by initially pulling out of the Shropshire Challenge Cup – to which they were demoted – before reversing the decision.

After putting 10 past St Martins they were given a bye into the final when Wem Town refused to play a midweek semi-final after Drayton cancelled the initial tie due to a league fixture clash.

And Murphy added: “There is nothing to stop that happening again. We played St Martins last year, who ended up winning the County League, and we scored 10 – that could happen again.

“And the Wem situation will happen. If we get our fixtures and we’re playing a Stamford or a Spalding away and it clashes with the Challenge Cup, then we’ll be in the same situation.

“The Evo-Stik league is going to see their fixtures as more important than the Challenge Cup because it’s not the senior competition.

“Nothing has been done to stop that happening again.”

Shropshire FA Chief Executive David Rowe defended the decision, hinting that the format may be reviewed in future years.

He said: “It’s not quite as simple as we would perhaps like it to be.

“We would love to have a Shropshire Senior Cup tournament involving a lot more teams, but I think it’s safe to say that if the play-offs weren’t in place then we would be doing that now.

“But there are lots of things to consider – like costs and policing that people perhaps don’t take into account.

“We would love to see it expanded and we understand Market Drayton’s point of view but the decision has been made to just have Telford and Shrewsbury in the final.”