Striker not taking anything for granted ahead of FA Cup tie
Exeter City striker Graham Cummins knows full well that Exeter City will be made to earn a place in the second round of the FA Cup when they take on Warrington Town on Friday evening.The Wire have come through a preliminary round and four qualifying rounds to get to the first round proper, and have sold every last ticket in the home end for the Cantilever Park clash in front of the BBC cameras.
The Evo-Stik NPL Division One North side are 13/2 to win the game on the night with Football League title partners Sky Bet, making them the longest odds for a home side in the first round.
And while Cummins feels that the Grecians should have the quality to win, he knows that they will have to match the home side for effort in Cheshire.
“I know a lad who lives up near Warrington’s ground, and he said to me what most people are expecting – and that’s that it’s going to be a tough game for us,” said Graham.
“They’re going to be up for it, we’ll have to match them for workrate, and we should have better ability. He said we probably won’t enjoy visiting the ground, but that’s what you have to do in football.
“They have done fantastic to get to the first round – they’ve played a lot of games to get here and I’m sure they won’t want it to end. They’ll want to get into the draw for next Monday.”
Cummins was part of the Rochdale squad that made it to the fourth round last year, toppling Torquay, Rotherham and Leeds on the way before finally falling to Sheffield Wednesday.
He is more than aware, therefore, of what damage can be done by underdogs if the mentality isn’t right with the favourites.
“If we perform to our maximum ability, we should go through the tie,” he explained. “There’s no sugar-coating it – everyone expects it, but we will have to be up for it.
“I’ve played in games where I’ve been the underdog and come through it. Last year with Rochdale, we played Leeds and won 2-0 – it probably should have been more like 5-0. You could see the Leeds players’ mentality wasn’t as good as ours.
“I’m sure that the Warrington all week will have been looking forward to it, in the way we have. We’re training like it’s a league game this weekend – we’re taking it extremely seriously.
“The club doesn’t have a fantastic record in the FA Cup recently and it’s a good opportunity to get into the second round.”