Dont write us off says Worthians boss Fisher

[FF News]

John Fisher says he is more than happy for every man and his dog to write off Highworth Town’s chances of toppling one of the most high-profile non-league clubs in the South West this weekend.

The Worthians are back in action in the FA Vase on Saturday and have been tasked with hosting Wessex League leaders Salisbury, the phoenix club created after the downfall of National League outfit Salisbury City, in the third round proper. The Whites, who are managed by former Leicester City striker and current BBC pundit Steve Claridge, are rated at 1/2 to triumph at the Elms by bookmakers BetVictor, with Highworth given odds of 4/1 to reach the last 32.

But manager Fisher says that he and his troops will be tapping in to a near-limitless font of inspiration following their heroics in the Vase last season, where they beat Tadcaster Albion in a quarter-final replay in front of more than 1,300 fans before falling just short of reaching Wembley as they were beaten by eventual champions North Shields in the semis.

“Everybody’s writing us off and saying that we’re going to lose because we’ve got Salisbury but that’s fine,” said Fisher, whose team were unbeaten in seven matches before last Tuesday’s loss to Thatcham Town. It’s going to be a challenge on Saturday and if you’re going to go far, you’re going to have to beat the best teams, so we might as well try to do it early. They’re going to be a good side but I don’t think that this is as tough as going to Tadcaster, like we did last season, and winning there.

All the players are up for this one because of how well we did in the Vase last year. If Salisbury are the favourites, then that’s fair enough. I prefer this kind of challenge, taking on a team like Salisbury in front of 300 or 400 people, rather than travelling somewhere to play in front of 50 people. We’re looking forward to it and we’ll see what we can get.”

Salisbury are no strangers to the Elms, having travelled to Highworth’s ground to take on Wroughton in the first round of the Wiltshire Senior Cup back in October, with that tie moved to accommodate a swathe of travelling supporters. Fisher reckons that the Elms pitch could prove a leveller. He said: “They’ve already seen our pitch after playing Wroughton there, so they’ll know what to expect. They know that our pitch is nowhere near the same as theirs, which is Conference standard, and it’s going to suit our game a lot more than it’s going to suit theirs.”

Source: www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/sport/football/

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