Minnows won’t take backward step in bid for a famous upset
AS the lowest-ranked team still in the FA Cup, AFC Fylde would have hoped to pull a Premier League side out of the hat in the third-round draw.
Ideally, a money-spinning away tie against some fancy dans who, fingers crossed, might not be inclined to roll up their sleeves so soon after gruelling festive fixtures.
So when Sheffield United came cheers would have stuck in throats.
Alex Whitmore, below, a centraldefender built from North-east granite, smiles when assessing the Blades.
“They are doing so well in the Premier League but they kind of have their nasty side as well, don’t they?” he said.
“It’s going to be a real test. The way we have to look at it is we have a chance to cause an upset. It happened last year and I’m sure they will not want a repeat.”
Sheffield United crashed out to non-League Barnet at the same stage 12 months ago, losing 1-0 at Bramall Lane, and manager Chris Wilder has already apologised for his intention to make 11 changes tomorrow.
Citing the fixture congestion that has sapped so much energy from his squad – including 2-0 defeats at Manchester City and Liverpool in consecutive games – Wilder will risk a repeat against a fired-up Fylde.
Although the team lying fourth from bottom in the National League are not overly confident, odds of 25-1 are perhaps a little dismissive.
Manager Jim Bentley produced an effusive appraisal of opposite number Wilder but was upbeat about giving his own team’s season a shot in the arm.
As a player with Morecambe – a side he managed for more than eight years until October – Bentley scored out,
Vtwo second-round goals against Chester in 2002 before being sent off in the next round against Ipswich.
“From hero to villain,” said Bentley. “It was 19 minutes in but I did a professional foul and we went on to lose 4-0.” Things have not gone according to plan in the league this season, with Fylde failing to consolidate the progressive profile that saw them promoted four times in 11 years and land the FA Trophy at Wembley last May, below.
A cup run could do wonders.Whitmore and the man sitting alongside him at their Mill Farm training base, record signing Ryan Croasdale, will certainly not be taking a backward step tomorrow.
In his first season with former club Kidderminster, Croasdale played nine games, was booked nine times and sent off once. In his second campaign, he was booked in four of his five appearances.
“It was £10 a yellow card and 50 or 60 quid for a red,” said the midfielder. “That first season cost me about £200, which is a lot when you are in non-League football.
“Since coming to Fylde it has not been too bad – just one red this season. “We’ll have a different game plan – probably sitting off Sheffield United a bit and then hopefully have the players who are quick on the counter-attack that can hurt them. Maybe we can get a draw and bring them back here. Maybe more.”
CHRIS WILDER says “villain” Jack Rodwell can be a hero again after handing the former England midfielder a chance to resurrect his career at Sheffield United. The 28-year-old, left, is set for his debut against non-League AFC Fylde tomorrow after signing a contract until the end of the season with an option for a further year.
Rodwell, who won three caps for his country, starred for Everton and Manchester City before joining Sunderland in 2014.
But after the Black Cats dropped into the Championship, he was the subject of criticism in the 2018
Alam Khan
Netflix documentary on the club when his wages became a burden and he refused to leave.
Rodwell’s £43,000-a-week contract was cancelled when Sunderland were relegated again to League One, but Wilder said: “Jack might be getting battered in the North-east but I know what went off and am not a lover of fly-onthe-wall documentaries.
“These guys want a victim, want a villain, but you get to know them and feel it’s a gamble worth taking.
“There is a lot of nonsense been talked about Jack. Maybe the spotlight should not be pointed on Jack Rodwell but a CEO or owner at the time for not putting stipulations into people’s contracts.
“Jack’s big enough to accept that, wants to resurrect his career, kick-start his career. If he didn’t have a love of the game, didn’t have desire to get himself going, he could be sat in the golf club watching the TV with his feet up.
“But he doesn’t want that. We have done all the relevant checks on him and I’m confident we can both make this a success.
“Jack’s got a fight to get into the team but has all the qualities to get in and stay in the team.”