John Coleman knows the stakes are high for both Accrington Stanley and Boreham Wood when they clash in the Emirates FA Cup replay tomorrow night – but knows they will both only be focused on each other.
The sides drew 1-1 in the Third Round clash two weeks ago and, whoever wins, will play Premier League Leeds United at home, live on BBC on Saturday lunch-time with the money and all the publicity which comes with that.
However Coleman is only thinking about tomorrow and knows his side have to put on a better show than they did on Saturday, when they were 3-0 down against Barnsley in the first 20 minutes in the League One clash.
“It raises the stakes, probably financially it’s the most potentially rewarding game we have played since I have been at the club,” said the Reds boss.
“However when you are playing a game, you are thinking about winning the game not money.
“If players have any ambition or character they will want to have a big game against Leeds. Who wouldn’t? I am sure (Boreham Wood manager) Luke Garrard will be having the same conversation with his players. There is a big prize and it’s a great tie.
“They had the fortune to go to Everton last year and he will want the thrill of that again and he will want the thrill of a Premier League team going to Boreham Wood which is a difficult place to go to as we found out a few weeks ago.
“But we have Boreham Wood in the draw – we have each other and we have to overcome that first so you can’t get too far ahead of yourself as it can lead to disappointment.”
Boreham Wood are in 12th place in the National League and last played on January 10th, with their game off at the weekend due to the weather. Top scorer is Lee Ndlovu with nine goals – he scored against the Reds in the first clash.
“We know the challenges we will come across with Boreham Wood and they know what challenges they will come across with us,” continued Coleman.
“They haven’t played for a while because of postponements so you think they are fresh but in that situation you can also be rusty so whether that’s an advantage or disadvantage we will only know at 9.45 tomorrow night.
“We would like to think we will give a better account of ourselves than we did on Saturday at Barnsley, that’s a certainty and if we don’t we won’t be hosting Leeds, we will be sitting watching Boreham Wood and Leeds so the first thing is to up our own stats and players have been left in no uncertain terms about that.
“We had the players in watching the video yesterday, they know it’s unacceptable. I am annoyed, disappointed and disappointed for fans who were brilliant at Barnsley, they deserved more than an insipid performance for the first half hour which ends up taking the game away from you.
“We know we are better than that and it’s got to be a case of focusing on the job in hand and trying to get a difficult job done.
“The fans want these days, they haven’t had enough of them. We haven’t been fortunate with cup draws in the past and hopefully we will give them that day.”
Michael Nottingham is in the squad after playing his first football of the season on Saturday, coming on as a substitute, while new signing Seb Quirk can’t play in this round.
The full pre-match interview with John Coleman is available to watch on the club's official YouTube channel, CLICK HERE to find out more!