YORK manager Martin Foyle believes the FA Cup third round tie with Stoke this weekend is just what his side deserves for all their hard work this season.
The Minstermen travel to the Britannia Stadium on the back of an impressive 11- match unbeaten run to put them in confident mood.
Foyle said: ‘‘It’s the icing on the cake after such a fantastic run, so the players will probably be as high in confidence as they will ever be.’’ Foyle is under no illusions as to just how tough the task will be for his side against Tony Pulis’ men.
He said: ‘‘I think we’ve got to take it into perspective first. We know we’re playing the Premier League boys away from home and we are non-league, so there is a massive gulf.
‘‘But while it’s 0-0 or you’re in a game anything can happen.
We need to start the game very well to give ourselves a chance.’’ He added: ‘‘We’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain. We’ve got to get in among them and close them down quickly and get ourselves in the game.
“If we drop off and defend deep and everything like that, we know they’ve got the aerial power that can cause us loads of problems, so we need have a little go.’’ With York in top form this high-profile clash could provide the ideal test for his young side to see how far they have progressed.
He said: ‘‘We know we’ve progressed, we know where we stand in the league, we’ve beaten Crewe in Division Two.
‘‘I don’t know what side Stoke are going to field. I think they’ll be more worried about playing Fulham at home on the Tuesday, so it might give some of the others much-needed match practice that they probably need.’’ York are no strangers to giant-killings in cup competitions.
They beat Manchester United (1995) and Everton (1996) in the League Cup, as well as reaching the FA Cup semi-finals in 1955.
York’s progress in the FA Cup this season could depend on in-form striker Richard Brodie, who already has 25 goals to his name.
‘‘He’s not fazed by anything, he just enjoys his football.
He’s got a big smile on his face and scored 25 goals up to Christmas which is a fantastic return at any level, so I think he’ll be running all day long and we need to have that bit of quality to match Stoke,’’ said Foyle.
When asked how confident he was of keeping hold of Brodie, he added: ‘‘We’ve had no interest for Richard. I’m not going to speculate on something that we haven’t got in front of us.’
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