FA Cup Preview: Northampton v Fleetwood Town

Ahead of Fleetwood Town’s trip to Northampton in the first round of the FA Cup I spoke to centre half Steve McNulty who claims that going to the game as underdogs is a good thing. McNulty, who snatched an 87th minute equaliser against Alfreton in the Blue Square North on Saturday, said:
“We have nothing to lose and everything to gain. They’re expected to beat us and it’s going to be a tough game as they are a League Two side but we’ll go and enjoy the day and see what the outcome is.”

Town travel to the League Two side after beating Kidderminster Harriers 3-1 in the qualifying fourth round replay and McNulty feels Town are more than capable of stepping up to a team placed two leagues above them, he said.
“The step up to League Two is not too much different. Non-league football doesn’t get as much credit as it deserves, it’s a really tough standard.

“They (Northampton) are obviously going to have a lot more experience than Fleetwood in terms of league football. It’s going to be tough because their players have been in the league for years, but we have enough experience to put up a good fight.”

McNulty wasn’t part of the Town team that narrowly missed out to Hartlepool last year in the second round but did play for Barrow who were edged out 2-1 by Middlesbrough in the third round. Having played against Premier League opposition McNulty insists that ‘anyone can beat anyone’ in the FA Cup.

He said: “At the end of the day the FA Cup is all about dreams and about who wants it more on the day. I played against Middlesbrough for Barrow last year and they battered us and could have scored five or six but it went right down to the wire in the end and we were unlucky not to get a draw.”

Over one thousand fans travelled to Town’s fourth round qualifying game against Kidderminster and McNulty is hoping that there will once again be a strong turn out from the Cod Army. He added: “We took a good few to Kidderminster so hopefully we’ll get a few more going down with us to Northampton and getting behind the lads.”