Manager ignoring Preston prize with FA Cup win
Manager Micky Mellon is not letting the prize of drawing Preston North End in the Second Round of the FA Cup take his team’s focus away from the replay against Walsall.The winner of Tuesday night's First Round replay (7.45pm kick-off) will take on the Lilywhites at Deepdale on December 6, but Micky’s men will have to get past rivals Walsall first.
Micky said: "It will probably add a little bit more spice to it knowing that the winners get Preston, which is a great prize for both clubs to go and play against a terrific League One side at the top end of the league.
"But we can’t lose our focus on the important thing which is making sure we perform against Walsall.”
“Playing in the second round at a club like Preston with the history they have got would be a great prize, so hopefully that can get a little bit more out of the group.
“We want to keep winning games, regardless of who it, is we want to just keeping winning games of football.
“Walsall’s our next challenge, we are looking forward to it and we will pick a team accordingly that we believe will go and get that result.”
Town drew 2-2 with Walsall in the first leg after conceding a late goal from Tom Bradshaw, but Micky insists that his team are only thinking about the second leg of this fantastic competition.
“When you get to that late stage in the game and you’re winning 2-1 away from home you expect to win but it’s all set up fantastically for a game on Tuesday night. We are really looking forward to it," he said.
“It’s such a fantastic tournament to be involved in, there’s so much excitement in it. If you love football, you love being in the FA Cup and you want to be in it for as long as you can and you want to get your story in it.
“It’s important it gets your full attention and you try for other reasons, financially, for the fans, for the players to put stories into their careers.”
Having already played Walsall just 10 days previous to this fixture, both managers will have the added bonus of seeing their opposition in action.
Micky said: “You probably know more about them because you have played against them so you don’t have to go and scout, watching somebody else’s team play against them, you remember your own team playing against them.
“But it will be the same for them, we go into the game knowing a little bit more about each other that what we normally would, but we’re really looking forward to the challenge and it’s all set up to be a cracking game of football.”
Micky makes light work of the rivalry with Walsall, saying: “It’s just another tough game.
“We have to represent the fans and the football club properly and take part of that and realise that it’s an important game for a lot of people."