I want to get as far as we can in The FA Cup, says Welling United boss Jamie Day

WELLING UNITED manager Jamie Day says he respects Brislington going into Saturday’s FA Cup tie.



The Wings kick-off their FA Cup campaign in the Fourth Qualifying Round because they are a Conference Premier club nowadays.

They travel to Brislington sitting in ninth-place in The Skrill Premier, having collected seven wins and four draws from sixteen games.

Brislington, meanwhile, compete in the Toolstation Western League and welcome the Wings sitting in fifth-place in the table, having won six and drawn four of their 12 league games.

Welling United are four levels higher than Brislington but Day expects a tough game in Bristol.

“It’s going to be a tough game with them in good form,” warned Day.

“I think they’ve won five or six on the bounce. They’ve beaten Weston-super-Mare and Truro to get into this round so they’re going to be looking forward to it and trying to cause an upset so we need to go down there, be very professional and hopefully get the job done.”

Day added: “They’ve got nothing to lose. We’re going there expecting to win but obviously football is not as easy as that! 

“In The FA Cup you get teams lower beating teams above them and they’re going to raise their game and if we don’t give them the respect they deserve then we’ll come unstuck and get beat and lose out on potentially getting a good draw in the first round.”

The last time Welling United reached The FA Cup First Round was back in 2005 when Adrian Pennock took the club to Huddersfield Town, when they went down to a 4-1 defeat.

Day said: “I’ve not got to the first round as a manager since being at Welling so that’s something that we’d like to put right.

“We’ve been disappointing in The FA Cup over the past three or four years so we’d like to get through but obviously we’ve got a tough draw away from home and we need to be professional and get the job done and then hopefully – if we was to get through – get a nice draw.”

The Wings will scoop £12,500 in prize money from The Football Association if they were to get past their lower-league opponents.

“I want to get as far as we can in The FA Cup because you get the win bonuses from each round,” said Day.

“It’s £12,500 in this round so it’s a good pot to get through and I’m looking forward to it and hopefully we can put in a good performance.”

The Wings last played Conference top-flight football in 2000 and Day is pleased with the way his side have started upon their return.

“I’m pleased where we’re at, we’re only two points off the play-offs at the minute,” said Day, who guided the club to the Conference South title last season.

“We’ve got a good amount of points. We could have got a few more on the way but overall I’m pleased, apart from last Saturday (losing 3-0 at Halifax) when we were poor in the first half and we got punished. Other than that, we’ve been in most games and been in with a chance of winning them. That’s got to continue.

“The squad is a bit bare at the minute. We’ve got five or six injuries to big players but we knew that potentially might happen with the size of the squad and the budget we have so other than that we’re fairly pleased.

“There’s a long way to go and we’ll continue winning games and picking up as many points as we can.”

Visit Welling United’s website: www.wellingunited.com

Brislington  v  Welling United
The FA Cup with Budweiser Fourth Qualifying Round
Saturday 26^th October 2013
Kick Off 3:00pm
at Brislington Stadium, Ironmould Lane, Brislington, Bristol BS4 5RS