Version 4.0 of the burgeoning cup competition starts to heat up as A-League clubs enter the round of 32 along with the remaining member federation clubs.

Blacktown City lit up last season’s competition, inspired by the play of Danny Choi and Nick Antelmi, when their attacking feats helped the club progress to a quarter-final berth against Sydney FC.

Although they ended up losing to the Sky Blues 3-0, Crittenden said that Blacktown can still present a challenge to the Mariners in their Round of 32 FFA Cup home tie.

“In football, anyone can upset anyone and any time you get an A-League team you want it to be in round one,” Crittenden told FourFourTwo.

“We are getting Central Coast at a good time. It’s early in their season. We got Sydney FC last year when they were two weeks away from the A-League kick off. They were in good shape and very well organised.

“But Central Coast will still be well prepared. Their coach Paul Okon did a good job with the Mariners at the first attempt and he’ll be better for the outing and I’m sure the team will be as well.

“Any A-League club is going to be tough opposition. But we’ll put our best foot forward, it’s the beauty of the cup, anything can happen."

There's been plenty of changes among Blacktown's line-up

Last season, Blacktown won the NSW NPL Grand Final but since that success key players have moved on.

Danny Choi is out with a major injury and Travis Major (Pegasus FC - Hong Kong Premier League), Nenad Vekic (Marconi Stallions), Patrick Antelmi (Wollongong Wolves) and Sasa Macura (Manly United FC) have all left the club.

Despite the changes, City lead the NSW NPL and Crittenden felt the effort of the new recruits have put the club in a good position.

“We’ve had a lot of changes but we’ve recruited well,” he said.

“We are happy with the players that we’ve brought in and at the moment things are going nicely.

“We’ve brought in a couple of boys that we believe that were the right mix for the club and that’s important. It’s just good work ethic they are fantastic at what they do.

“They want to be at the club, they want to be footballers and the want to put their best foot forward and we keep getting results, it all comes down to effort.”

Crittenden also said the opportunity for his semi-professional outfit to play against professional footballers is one of the motivating factors that will give his team a lift.

“It’s massive for the club,” he said.

“One of the biggest thing for the boys, is to compare themselves with players that are at the next level.

“The gap is getting closer. There are some good quality kids in the state league and this their opportunity now to test themselves against the pinnacle of Australian football.”