BROWNE AND OUT
Preston skipper wants to dump Spurs
PRESTON skipper Alan Browne hopes to stop Harry Kane in his tracks.
But the Ireland international knows they are in for one hell of a ride when the England captain and Tottenham Hotspur come to town.
Hitman Kane has a chance to break the late Jimmy Greaves’ Spurs goalscoring record when the two sides clash at Deepdale tonight, live in front of the BBC cameras.
And Browne hopes to play a key role in preventing the striker from netting his 267th goal. Well, for one match at least.
“Kane is one of the best players in the world, if not the best striker in the world,” said Browne.
“We’re aware of the problems he can cause us and his threats, but at the same time they are not a oneman team.
“Tottenham have got quality right throughout their team, so we can’t focus all of our attention on him.
“It’s going to have to be a collective effort if we’re going to get through the game. It’s not about stopping one man, it’s about stopping the whole team.
“Anything can happen, that’s the magic of the cup. It’s a one-off.
“You could catch them on a bad day, we could have a good day and we cause a big upset.
“And from outside that’s what everybody wants, they want the underdog to pull through and to get the win.
Progress
“The pressure is off us, it’s on them. If they were to lose it would be a massive upset.”
Browne is realistic enough to know Spurs are firm favourites to progress, but the Irishman hopes to be part of a special giant-killing at Deepdale.
“These matches are great occasions, probably more so for the club and the audience it will get from it,” added Browne.
“But for us, as players, it’s about testing yourselves against the best players in the world.
“As a player you want to gauge how far you from those players – and see how big the gap is.
“Having played at international level, I know the gap (in standard) isn’t as big as you might think.
“But the difference is they (their players) perform week-in week-out in the Premier League, whereas at Championship level you can get away with maybe two or three players having an off-day.”
The hosts have lost their last four home matches ahead of the visit of Spurs, but Browne hopes a big win could ignite a strong finish to the season as the club look to win promotion to the top flight.
“I’m not sure what it is, but we’ve been poor at home all season for some reason,” admitted Browne.
“We’ve had chats amongst ourselves and we can’t quite put our finger on it.
“This a great chance to put it right. What a win it would be for us going forward if could manage it.
“It’s an historic cup, this club has won it before and it’s obviously got great history. If we could replicate that then it would be fantastic.”