KIDLINGTON don’t mind having their 16th consecutive away draw on the spin – they can travel to Gloucester City on a coach!
The Hellenic Premier League club are on a remarkable run of cup games on the road. In fact the last time they played a cup game at home was on August 16 last year against Newbury in the FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round.
This season they’ve created club history by reaching the FA Cup second round qualifying and the reward is a trip to Cheltenham Town’s World of Smile Stadium, where the National League North Tigers groundshare.
And instead of the usual meet at the away team’s ground, this time they’ll be travelling together.
Boss Martin ‘Wilky’ Wilkinson told The NLP: “It doesn’t affect me as a manager because my preparation is the same whether it’s home or away. It affects the players more than anything but so far they’ve been fantastic. Normally we travel in separate cars and meet up at the ground.
“But we’ll be travelling to Gloucester City on a coach, which give the players the opportunity to enjoy the day. More importantly it gives me the opportunity to talk to players individually and get them really prepared for the game. It may actually assist having these bigger games away.
“The ambition for the club is to go to the next level so these games give us a great experience of those challenges.”
Wilky is determined his side give their best showing next Sunday. An ‘A’ Licence coach, he also works as an FA Coach Educator and was the video analyst for Team GB Women when they won gold at the World University Games in Russia in 2013.
Ahead of the weekend his side have lost just once all season so confidence is high.
“It’s going to be a massive challenge, but one we’re looking forward to,” Wilkinson added. “We’ll go with the mindset that we can get something from the game.
“We’re in unchartered waters. We wrote history by winning last week and it’s the furthest I’ve been in the FA Cup as a manager.
“It’s a special competition. You’ve got to enjoy the day and that’s what we’re doing at the moment.”
