Knaresborough Town boss issues FA Cup rallying cry

Knaresborough Town manager Paul Stansfield wants the local community to become his side's '˜twelfth man' in Saturday's historic FA Cup showdown.
Knaresborough Town boss Paul Stansfield. Picture: Craig DinsdaleKnaresborough Town boss Paul Stansfield. Picture: Craig Dinsdale
Knaresborough Town boss Paul Stansfield. Picture: Craig Dinsdale

Boro entertain Evo-Stik Premier Division outfit Workington at Manse Lane in the second qualifying round.

And with the club having progressed further than ever before in the competition, Stansfield is hoping for a big turnout of supporters as they aim to upset a team who play their football two tiers above.

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“It’s a massive game for the club, we had around 350 in attendance in the previous round so if we could get closer to 500 this time that would be brilliant,” he said.

“The support of a big crowd makes a huge difference to the players so it would be great to see the people of the town getting behind their team on what is a historic occasion.

“We know we’re underdogs, but that suits us. We’re not here to make up the numbers, we’ll have a right good go.”

Boro go into the game boosted by a 3-1 NCEL Premier victory over Athersley Recreation in midweek.

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“We’d banned any talk of the FA Cup game until after Tuesday night,” he added.

“We wanted to make sure the players weren’t distracted from getting three points on the board.

"Athersley put men behind the ball and made it difficult for us, but we ground out a result and can take that into Saturday."

Kick-off at Manse Lane is at 3pm on Saturday.