Spennymoor Town boss: We’re not going to MK Dons just to make up the numbers
Jason Ainsley allowing himself to dream big as his non-league underdogs go in search of an FA Cup shock
WHEN even your goalkeeper is scoring, few can fault Spennymoor Town boss Jason Ainsley for believing the magic of the Cup is rubbing off on his side.
The 46-year-old takes his non-league outfit to League One MK Dons on Saturday in the First Round Proper of the competition.
Naturally, sitting 84 places below their hosts in the football pyramid, County Durham-based Moors head into the tie as massive underdogs.
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But Spenny are a club on the rise, and after lifting the FA Vase in 2013 and with aspirations of reaching the Football League in the future, Ainsley is determined to use the occasion to show everyone what his side are about in the FA Cup.
And with the fortune they have enjoyed en route to Stadium MK, the former Hartlepool United midfielder is allowing himself to dream big.
Ainsley said: “Saturday is a brilliant occasion for the club.
“We’re not going there just to make up the numbers, we’re going there to compete and showcase that we’ve got talent in our team, and hopefully we will come away with a lot of good memories, and make sure that the MK Dons players and fans know what a good team Spennymoor Town are.
“Sometimes you believe in fate, and when Dan Lowson, our goalkeeper, scored with a clearance from inside his own box at Radcliffe Borough in a pulsating game that had everything – it finished 5-3 – sometimes it’s written in the stars that you’re going to go a long way in the competition.
“There again, we were under the cosh against Chorley, who are a top side, for the last half an hour and we ground out a win with Glen Taylor scoring the only goal.
“Sometimes you need that little bit of luck on your side, and we’ve played well in the ties that we’ve been involved in.”
MK are currently managerless after parting ways with long-term chief Karl Robinson.
They are also on a miserable run of five games without defeat, but Ainsley is under no illusions of the task facing his men.
But he is hoping to give the near 700 travelling fans something to remember.
“MK Dons were in the Championship last season and beat Manchester United 4-0 in the League Cup [in 2014]. We were in the EvoStik First Division North,” Ainsley told the Northern Echo.
“There’s a massive gulf between us in terms of league places and it will go down as the biggest shock of the day if we win.
“Our players have got to be at their real, real maximum and hopefully the majority of the MK Dons players have an off day.
“On Saturday and Sunday there will be upsets, so why can’t we cause one? It’s a tough ask away from home, and I would have fancied us more at home, but we’re going to play on a beautiful surface in a great stadium, and we’re going there with nothing to lose and everything to gain.”
He added: “Usually games like this and occasions like this have an unexpected winner.
“It might be somebody who hasn’t scored before, it might be a setplay, but I couldn’t care less who scores, even if the ball went into the net off one of their players.
“It’s important that we do ourselves justice, the players we’ve got on show are very talented non-league footballers and they’ll be going there and hoping to put a performance in worthy of the occasion.
“The FA Cup is full of shocks and let’s hope on Saturday that we’re remembered for many, many years to come.”