Cowley brothers hoover up all the knowledge they can from Gunners

AN FA Cup fairytale which began with a trip to Guiseley reached its end inside Arsenal’s palatial Emirates Stadium and from the Lincoln dressing room came a request for a vacuum cleaner.

‘We always clean the dressing room wherever we go,’ said manager Danny Cowley. ‘We all do it. We make sure we clean up and leave it as we found it.

‘The All Blacks call it “Sweep the decks”, don’t they. If it is good enough for the All Blacks it’s good enough for us.’

After the clean-up operation and a blur of media interviews, Cowley and his brother and assistant Nicky spent 90 minutes with Arsene Wenger inside his office.

Wenger is not renowned for mingling for post-match drinks with his rivals but his assistant Steve Bould extended the invitation as he shook hands with the brothers after Arsenal’s 5-0 win. ‘I went into Martin Keown mode after that and started man- marking them,’ said Nicky.

The pair, who were PE teachers until last summer when they left Braintree for Lincoln, emerged with even greater respect for the Arsenal manager.

Danny said: ‘The fact he gave us an hour-and-a-half of his time after the week he’s had says everything about the man.

‘He loves the game and he talks with such enthusiasm. We understand as a non-League team the FA Cup journey has to come to an end and then it’s about what you can learn.’

The Cowleys were keen to discover what Wenger thought of their team and how he had sought to exploit their weaknesses before they turned their attention back to the business of winning promotion from the National League and reaching Wembley via a two-legged FA Trophy semi-final against York, the first leg of which they play tomorrow.

Lincoln striker Matt Rhead added that they were congratulated after the game by Arsenal’s players, who signed shirts and invited them into the home dressing room.

‘I got Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s shirt. It was a nice touch from them,’ said Rhead.