Leicester await – Beadle says Hereford will not be fazed should they get past Fleetwood

(Photo: Steve Niblett)
By Matt Badcock
PETER BEADLE doesn’t think Hereford will be blinded by the bright lights on Thursday as they play for an FA Cup third round date with former Premier League champions Leicester City.
The Southern League Bulls’ replay with Fleetwood Town has been moved to Thursday for the live TV cameras.
Last weekend Beadle’s men drew 1-1 with the League One side, who themselves are hoping for a reunion in the third round with their former striker Jamie Vardy.
Whoever gets through to face the Foxes will also be live on the box after TV chiefs selected the clash.
And boss Beadle thinks the club’s familiarity with big games means they won’t get stage fright in the replay.
“We’re very fortunate that we’ve played in some big games already in our very short time in existence,” Beadle told The NLP. “ We’ve played in FA Vase two-legged semi-finals to get to Wembley, we’ve played in a Wembley final, we’ve played in some big games at home, we’ve had big crowds. Eastleigh away in this year’s FA Cup, Telford was a big crowd – so we’re used to it and it doesn’t faze us so much.
“It means the players can settle down and just play their normal game because they understand the expectation of the supporters and they are also used to that big occasion. It doesn’t freeze them.
“We’ve got a big game against Basingstoke this weekend first, but come Thursday for the replay hopefully they’ve got another big performance in them. I know they have because they’ve done it time and time again. I just hope they can reach those heights of the first game and maybe do some things a little bit better because there were things. They know that, we’ve talked about it and we’ll talk about it in the week.”
Ahead of the weekend, Hereford had lost just twice in 29 games this season. Next weekend they face Dagenham & Redbridge in the FA Trophy before taking on league promotion rivals Kettering Town a week Tuesday.
Their historic FA Cup run is already causing a mini fixture pile-up, but Beadle says it’s a welcome problem to solve.
With all their success, it’s easy to forget the club is only in its third season since reforming from the ashes of Hereford United.
“The word over-achieved isn’t the right one,” Beadle said. “It does and it doesn’t surprise me how well we’ve done so quickly. It was always going to be about re-forming and going again. The club was going forward and picking up pace so it was really important the team did the same and caught up very quickly. Which it did eventually.
“We had a wobble the first five or six weeks of the first season and then got on a run.  The team are now taking it to another level. The momentum is great. It seems a long, long time ago when this club was in trouble and things weren’t great.
“At the moment it’s all about looking forward to where we want to be and where we could possibly be. It’s really important we keep it going and using that momentum while we can because it may come to a point when it slows down.
“We are only in our third season. Where we are at the moment is remarkable – on and off the field because people are working hard behind the scenes to make us better. That’s what we’re trying to do on the field as well – work to get better.”

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