We have to make sure we turn up and do ourselves justice against Luton Town, says Jamie Day

WELLING UNITED manager Jamie Day says his side must take home advantage when they lock horns with Luton Town in The FA Cup First Round on Saturday.


The Hatters were playing the likes of Manchester United in the top flight of English football in 1996 – but arrive at Park View Road on a level playing field and John Still’s men are only three points better off than the Wings.

Luton Town were FA Cup runners up back in 1958-59 when they were defeated 2-1 by Nottingham Forest underneath the iconic Wembley Twin Towers.

They returned to Wembley as recently as 1993-94 when they lost 2-0 to Chelsea in the Semi-Finals.

Welling United’s best ever run in The FA Cup was in season 1988-89 when they were defeated 1-0 by Blackburn Rovers in a Third Round tie at Park View Road.

Luton Town are currently in third-place in The Skrill (Conference) Premier, having collected eight wins and seven draws from their seventeen league games.

Welling United, meanwhile, are in eighth-place in the table, with eight wins and four draws from the same number of games.

“It’s a good draw,” said Day.

“We’re at home, which is an advantage to us. Hopefully we can keep our home form going in the Cup match.

“It will be a difficult game. They’re doing well this year, they’re third in the table, a big club that brings a lot of support as well, so we’re looking forward to the match.”

Luton Town reached the Fifth Round of The FA Cup last season, going out of the competition to Millwall, who came away from Kenilworth Road with a 3-0 victory.

The Hatters became the first non-league club to knock a Premier League club out of The FA Cup when they won 1-0 at Norwich City in the Fourth Round last season.

Day said: “They’ve done extremely well last year so they want to get as far as they possibly can because of the prize money in each round and getting somebody on television and get a big club.

“It’s a big game for both teams and one that both teams want to win.”

Day added: “I’m happy with the draw. It’s one that both teams will look at and say it’s winnable, so hopefully we can put in a good performance and get ourselves in Round Two and then if we can do that we’ve got a chance of getting a League club as well.

“It should be a good game, a good atmosphere and one we’ve got to take advantage off.

“They’ve got a good manager (John Still) who knows this level and knows how to win games and they’ve had a Cup run in the past.

“It’s going to be a real tough game for us and if we’re not at our best we will come unstuck and get beat and get knocked out.

“We know they’ve got some quality players and we know their strengths and weaknesses as they know ours.

“Hopefully we can put in a good performance and get the result.”

Day was proud that central defender Fraser Franks has been recalled to the England C international team that plays Czech Republic at Woking’s Kingfield Stadium on Tuesday, 19 November (6pm kick-off).

Former Bromley player, Harrison Dunk, who now plays for Conference Premier leaders Cambridge United, has also been included in Paul Fairclough’s squad.

Day said: “Fantastic news. He deserves it.  Sometimes his performances have gone unnoticed. Regularly he’s an eight-out-of-ten and people expect it from him. He’s put in performances and he’s got to keep his form going and I’m really pleased for him.”

For a club of Welling United’s size to be only three points and five places behind a club the size of Luton Town proves what an amazing job Day and his management team and playing staff are achieving.

“It’s a good start,” said Day.  “Obviously (there’s a) long way to go but we’re pleased with the start we’ve made.

“We’ve got to get as many points on the board as we possibly can. The boys’ have adapted really well, played some good football and beat some good teams along the way.

“We’ve got to keep it going – that’s the aim for the next five months – to keep this level of consistency up and keep picking up results.”

When asked whether the club can grab a play-off place at the end of the season, Day replied: “I think for us we’ve had an aim at the start of the season – that’s what we’ve got to reach first of all so we know what roughly points target we need to reach that aim.

“If we get that then we want to kick on and finish as high as we possibly can. Once we’ve reached our target once and for all we can adjust from there.”

When asked whether that original target was to avoid relegation, Day replied: “Yes, that was it at the start of the season. We wanted to be in this league next season so we’re halfway to getting the total points needed so that’s what we’ve got to aim to do as quickly as possible.

“Once we’ve done that we’ll reassess what target to give ourselves.”

Welling United, who scraped to a 1-0 win at Western League Brislington in the last round, will bank £18,000 in welcomed prize-money should they knock out Luton Town.

“It’s a massive Cup competition in the world so we’ve got to try and stay in it for as long as we possibly can,” said Day.

“We have to make sure we turn up on Saturday and do ourselves justice and get the result and get as far as we possibly can in such a big Cup competition.”

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

Welling United  v  Luton Town
The FA Cup with Budweiser First Round
Saturday 9^th November 2013
Kick Off 3:00pm
at Park View Road, Welling, Kent DA16 1SY