MULLINS OUT TO RUIN SUDBURY’S 5,000-1 MIRACLE
HAYDEN MULLINS reached two FA Cup finals as a player and now bookies are offering another 5,000-1 miracle on AFC Sudbury to win it at his expense.
Colchester boss Mullins has warned his League Two side not to approach tonight’s booby-trap 15 miles across the Suffolk border with any superiority complex at Sudbury’s tiny MEL Group Stadium.
Mullins was suspended in 2006 when West Ham were pipped on penalties by Liverpool in Cardiff, but played in Portsmouth’s 1-0 defeat by Chelsea at Wembley four years later.
And he is determined not to be the fall guy before a global audience in front of the live BBC cameras.
Mullins said: “The bookies are offering the same odds on Sudbury to win the Cup as Leicester to win the title five years ago – and it’s our job to make sure we spoil the script.
“Our attitude will have to be spoton. If we go strolling into the game thinking we’re the bigger club, we won’t be making life easier for ourselves.
“There are not many times when we’ll be live on TV this season, so it’s a real opportunity for us. Although the romantics will be siding with the underdogs, who knows where it could lead if we reach the next round.”
Andrew Long – chairman of the Isthmian League North minnows – said: “The BBC informed me that AFC Sudbury would command the largest global audience of any event on Friday evening – and that blows your mind.
“Our game will be shown in more than 70 countries, so this really is an opportunity to announce ourselves to the world and put the club on the map.”