Aldershot Town captain Ben Herd
VIDEO: Cup dream Spurs on Shots captain Herd
By Jon CouchNovember 29, 2012
CAPTAIN Ben Herd will have his eyes on the big prize when he leads Aldershot Town out in the FA Cup on Saturday – a dream third-round tie at his beloved Tottenham Hotspur.
The Shots captain has never reached the third round of the world famous competition and admitted that glimmer of hope of running out at White Hart Lane would drive him on at Fleetwood Town this weekend.
“You become aware that the older you get, you know the less chance you have of fulfilling the dream and, for me, Tottenham at White Hart Lane is that dream,” Herd told the News & Mail.
“It’s a million-to-one chance but lower league footballers live for days like these and the lure of reaching that big third round tie will give us all an added incentive on Saturday."
Herd went on: “It’s going to be tough but although we lost 4-1 there earlier in the season I thought we were unlucky on the day.
“It was naivety really, we missed a penalty and had Josh Payne sent off, but we know there’s no reason why we can’t go there and get our revenge on Saturday.
“We are probably set up to play better away from home at the moment, we’re working hard for each other and are harder to beat and that shows in our recent record away.
“Yes, they are going well in the league but anyone can beat anyone in this division and hopefully we can catch them cold and give ourselves a chance of enjoying another big occasion like against Manchester United last season.”
The bad news for the Shots is that boss Dean Holdsworth will have to make do without on-loan midfielder Danny Rose, who is not permitted to play in the tie against his parent club.
Rose has started every game for the Shots since joining from the Cod Army six weeks ago, and although he is disappointed not to be locking horns with his old Town team-mates, he is backing the Shots to provide him with a third round tie to look forward to.
“I don’t know what the odds of drawing Fleetwood were,” Rose said. “I can’t play because of a standard FA rule which I’m gutted about, I would have loved to have played.
“But I’m sure if we set up in the way we have done in some of our matches away from home recently, then no doubt we can get a result.”
Holdsworth is also without another loan sensation in Dani Lopez, who has been refused permission to play by Stevenage, but the good news for the Shots boss is that seven-goal top scorer Craig Reid has been in training all week and is expected to be fit to return.
“Dani has been in great form for us, but it’s a big boost for us having Craig back training,” Holdsworth added.
“This is a big opportunity for us. We are growing in confidence with every game, although we are nowhere near where I think we can be.
“Fleetwood are a good side with good players but so are we and we have shown away from home in recent weeks that we are hard to beat.”
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