ILKLEY Town boss Simon Armstrong has reiterated the enormity of his side facing Guiseley, despite being beaten 7-0.

Town welcomed their biggest crowd to date, with a total of 356 fans in attendance, however they couldn't see them through to victory.

Guiseley, who sit four divisions above Ilkley, brought a strong line-up to town, and their class showed throughout.

Goals from first team stars including Mbeka (2), Day and Kellet saw the away side ease to the seven-goal total.

However, despite the scoreline, the day was a significant step in the history of Ilkley Town Football Club, and manager Simon Armstrong reaffirmed this point.

He said: "It was very purposeful that we took the game really.

"We knew it would be a really tough challenge and would be challenge that the vast majority of the players have never faced before.

"And we knew it would be probably the biggest tie we've ever had, which again, a lot of the players aren't used to.

"It's a brand-new environment, it's a brand-new challenge and I'm not going to lie, we struggled.

"But we need that experience. We need to have that experience in order to get better and to show us the level that we want to aspire to at some point in the future- and what is takes to get there.

"From a learning perspective it was huge for us. Hopefully, we can repeat that pre-season friendly in the next campaign, and hopefully we will do better.

"It would be nice to get that little bit closer each time we play them."

Armstrong added: "Overall it's a great learning perspective for us, and it was brilliant to play in front of a record crowd.

"Obviously, we've got Bury coming at the start of the season, and we could potentially be playing in front of 700 or 800 people.

"So, the players needed to get used to playing in front of a crowd and get a taste of it.

"And all in all, it was a huge day for the club. A record crowd was on show, and we got to play against a side four divisions above ourselves.

"Hopefully, it's a taster of what is to come."

And discussing the news that Town will host Bury on the opening day of the campaign, Armstrong said: "We are really looking forward to it now.

"I'm not going to lie when I say Bury are the favourites to win the league.

"They have the biggest budget, they should have the best players, but I also think they will have the most amount of pressure on their shoulders as well.

"It's really a free hit for us.

"It's the opening day, there is massive expectation on them, and they are going to bring a big crowd.

" Our players won't have played in front of them numbers before, and their supporters will definitely have high expectations on them to perform and win.

"However, we don't fear them, and we are prepared to take on the challenge."