Fylde boss tells FA Cup minnows to make themselves Friday night TV stars
ByPA Sport
Published 30/11/2017 at 14:31 GMT
Fylde boss Dave Challinor is relishing the National League side's debut in the FA Cup second round in front of the national television cameras on Friday night.
Former Tranmere star Dave Challinor is hoping to lead AFC Fylde to an FA Cup upset on Friday
Image credit: PA Sport
The home clash with League One leaders Wigan is the pick of the weekend's action and former Tranmere long-throw expert Challinor has urged his side not to be star-struck.
Lancashire outfit Fylde reached the second round with a 4-2 win over Kidderminster and head into the game on the back of a superb 1-0 win at high-flying Dover last weekend.
Challinor said: "We have got to make it seem as normal as possible - this is a big opportunity for many of my players to prove they can play in the Football League.
"Whether you're down at non-league level or up at the very top, ultimately it is all about playing in big games in front of big crowds and TV, and if you can't get excited about that then nothing will ever motivate you.
"It's great to have a nationwide audience, and this is the one competition in which we have the opportunity as a group to test ourselves against Football League players, so we have to go out and take it head-on."
Fylde's remarkable journey began when local businessman David Haythornthwaite took over tiny Kirkham and Wesham in 2007, backing them through five subsequent promotions with the goal of reaching the Football League by 2022.
They were renamed as AFC Fylde from the start of the 2008-09 season.
Wigan boss Paul Cook said he was under no illusions about the fact that the tie was ripe for one of the competition's famous upsets.
Cook said, according to Wigan Today: "It epitomises everything that's good about the FA Cup - the reason the TV cameras are there is not to watch us win, that's for sure.
"I think the days are gone when it's actually a giant-killing. Would it be a cup shock? Yes it would. Are we preparing ourselves for that? Without a shadow of a doubt."
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