Aldershot Town travel to the Hawthorns to take on West Brom in the third round of the FA Cup this Sunday the 7th of January, with over 4,500 Shots fans expected to follow into the Smethwick End. Tommy Widdrington spoke to ShotsTV ahead of the fixture…
Tommy Widdrington gave some thoughts ahead of the game:
“I’m feeling the same as everybody else, massive anticipation, we’re looking forwards to the occasion, but ultimately it’s a day of work for us
“We’re in the game to have these ocassions and I think on the back of the good festive period we’ve had I think everyone is in a really good physical and mental state to get at it.”
“I’m always positive, I believe in the way we play I believe in the group, but what I’ve got to be mindful of and where we’ve got to temper out enthusiasm to win the game with not getting walloped because there is a huge gulp between the two football teams and football clubs
The Shots have already pulled off some massive results in the FA Cup this season, and West Brom will be a historic day for the club regardless of the outcome, here is what Widdrington said on the sides run so far:
“The FA Cup has perennial habit of throwing out results as we ourselves already know we’ve been part of two this season, and on the other side of that Aldershot have been on the wrong end of them in previous seasons
“We’ll go there as well prepared as we can be we’ll have them watched as much as we can in terms of the same way we do on a weekly basis in terms of our league opposition
“I’m really proud of taking this club to West Brom, it’s a redemption day for our football club because there’s been a lot of low stuff recently and a lot of really low stuff a little further away
There will be some notable absentees from the side, joint top scorer Josh Stokes misses out through suspension and Haji Mnoga will miss the clash as he prepares for AFCON with Tanzania:
“In the case of Josh Stokes, one mans dissapointment will be another mans fortune, somebody will get an opportunity because he’s been a special player for us this season
“It’s a travesty in my eyes that that lad doesn’t get the opportunity to show what he can do on that stage, but, it’s happened
“I’m delighted for Haji to have got the recognition as far as I’m concerned he’s our player, I know he’s registered to Portsmouth but he’s with us for the season
Ahead of the game Widdrington was also talking about his team selection, and how he will try and tackle the task of the Championship high flyers:
“As we speak the team is floating around in my head, I think I know roughly where we are, but there are a couple of guys who I am considering
“We’ve got to try and give oursleves a chance and that means playing to the best of our ability the best way we can and that’s what we try and do every game”
The Shots are going into the clash off the back of a festive period which saw them pick up 4 points out of 6 over local rivals Woking, including a 3-2 win at Woking on New Years Day, a fixture which Tommy Widdrington was full of praise for…
“I think if any team takes 4 of 6 points out of it then the bragging rights is the biggest part of it for fans, ultimately for managers it’s another 3 points on the board.”
The full interview is available to watch HERE
