Leiston Town hopes their underdog tag will propel them to the FA Trophy upset
Megan Armitage, Sportsbeat
Chris Wiggins, Leiston Town joint manager, hopes that the chance of scoring a FA Trophy free hit will motivate his team to win a fourth round against Aldershot Town.
Pitching In Southern League Premier Central have reached the final 16 of the competition. They will be facing their National League rivals at the EBB Stadium located at the Recreation Ground.
Wiggins thinks that being an underdog is key to a thrilling and historic game.
He stated, “This is Leiston’s furthest competition so it doesn’t come under any pressure – It comes with freedom.”
“It’s a free win for us in that sense. We can enjoy the game with a bit of excitement knowing that we won’t be expected to win or advance to the next round.
“We’re willing to just enjoy the game and who knows what might be on the other side.
“We’re going see if that underdog card can be used to its full effect, and we’ll play the hand dealt.”
After their win over Folkestone Invitica with penalties, Leiston was qualified for the fourth round. However, they had a secret weapon in Sonny Wright (17-year-old goalkeeper).
Wright, the son former goalkeeper Richard Wright of Arsenal and England, led his team to victory in a historic fourth round.
Wiggins stated: “In round three, our goalkeeper called in sick on Saturday morning. So we had a 17 year old goalkeeper on board the bus and it was all about giving him his first appearance.
“When it came down to penalties, Sonny is an expert penalty specialist so I went into the shootout with complete confidence.
“We’ll go back to our more skilled goalkeeper now, but if it comes up to penalties again we know that Sonny has us covered.”
Wiggins said that Aldershot is their biggest challenge so far, but that there are still hopes for a fifth round miracle.
He said, “We’re going prepare for this match as we would for any major fixture.”
“From our point-of-view, we look forward to the challenge.
“We’re in a good spot now in the FA Trophy, and we will give everything we can to it.”
Entain’s support has allowed Ladbrokes to launch a multimillion-pound investment programme called Pitching In. It is designed for grassroots sports support. For more details see: