Manchester holding no fear for Durham City

 Source: Chester Chronicle

 DURHAM CITY go to FC United of Manchester tonight without fear, Ross Wilkinson says.

The New Ferens Park outfit held their Evo Stik Premier opponents to a 1-1 draw in Saturday’s FA Trophy second qualifying round clash.

They replay at Gigg Lane this evening, and City skipper Wilkinson believes they do so buoyed by their weekend performance.

“We’re quite confident going down there,” Wilkinson said.

“We were really pleased with Saturday’s performance, especially the second half when I thought we fought hard.

“In the first half we stood off them a little bit, and let them get the ball down but in the second half we were in their faces and I think we could have won if we’d pushed on a little bit harder.

“We had a couple of good chances, and I had a goal disallowed, which I thought was a bit harsh, I thought I was onside.

“I felt if the game had gone on a little bit longer we would have won it.

“In the end, we settled for the draw. Against a team from the league above us, that’s a good result.

“Now we’ve got an excellent chance going down there to Gigg Lane.

“We’ve got to go there with confidence, start the game like we finished on Saturday and we might surprise a few people.

“Spirits are high at the club right now, the banter and morale are good.

“Dickie (Ord) gets us fired up for every game, and as long as we can keep this squad together and everybody fit, I think we can give it a good push in the Trophy and in the league.

“The money involved in the Trophy is obviously very important for a club like this, and the further we go in the competition the higher the standard of the opposition.

“People work their backsides off here to keep the club afloat so it’s important we keep our good form going.

“Two years ago the team that kept the club going won down there so it’ll be good to go back. If we play like we did on Saturday we’ll have a good chance.

“They’ll expect to win but there’s no fear among us, and nothing to lose.”

Meanwhile, City vice-chairman Ian Walker added: “We’ve got to take confidence from Saturday’s game.

“When you look at FC United, the spin-off of Manchester United, they’ve got big support but haven’t forgotten what we did down there two seasons ago when we went down and beat them 2-1 with a bunch of kids.

“That shows where we’ve come from, we’ve risen from the ashes and I think they respect us for that.

“We’re getting recognised now across the north of England and we’ll go there on Wednesday with confidence.

“If we’ve got a strong squad I firmly believe we can give them a good run for their money and pick up a win.”

by Steve Brown, Evening Chronicle
Nov 9 2011