Aldershot Town manager Tommy Widdrington pre-West Bromwich Albion
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00:00 Tommy, obviously a massive day for the club on Sunday, FA Cup third round at West Brom.
00:07 Firstly, what does it mean to be in the third round? It's one of the most historic days in the footballing calendar.
00:14 Yeah, it's great. I joke with the lads that when I was their age, the FA Cup didn't start until January.
00:23 But to get there with this group of people, staff and players, is a fantastic achievement first and foremost.
00:30 The players on the pitch primarily are the ones who deserve the credit.
00:34 It's a reward, it's a free hit for us. We said that at Swindon, we said it at Stockport, but we went there with a game plan and it worked.
00:42 Now, it's beyond anybody's realms of thoughts that we might pull off the impossible, but it is a possibility.
00:50 We'll go there full of confidence after the last couple of games we've played and in general, knowing exactly what we're going to try and do.
00:58 So, we're looking forward to it.
01:00 You've already knocked out Swindon and Stockport, West Brom are two sets above that in the Championship,
01:06 but you've obviously been working on your game plan and you're looking to take that to them?
01:11 Yeah, whenever you come up against a team from a higher level of the game, you've got to give them the utmost respect.
01:17 We do the same on a weekly basis in the National League. You've got to accept that it's going to be possibly more of the game,
01:26 whether you're going to have the ball more than you are, or far more than usual, let's say.
01:31 If that's the case, then we have to be prepared for that.
01:33 People who have watched us play this season know we like the ball, know we like to play forward and go forward, be attacking and score goals, but so do they.
01:42 So, from that point of view, we've got to temper their strengths and try and impart our will, as it were, as much as we can.
01:49 But, look, we just want to go there and give the best version we can of ourselves.
01:53 And if they do that, they can come away with their heads held high, having had a fantastic game.
01:57 But, if the unthinkable happens, then who knows?
02:01 And West Brom, you had a chance to watch them and I guess it's hard to know necessarily what line-up they might go with, with the options they have.
02:09 Yeah, it's difficult. At the end of the day, we've had the first team watched and we've had the 23s watched,
02:14 but, like you said, the multitude of options that they have in comparison to us is just that.
02:20 So, whilst they'll have a fairly good idea about what we're going to set up and the personnel,
02:25 we don't know if they're going to go full strength, half strength, play the kids.
02:29 We don't know.
02:30 Whatever group that they do pick, we know they're going to be a fantastic football team,
02:35 backed by a lot of fans, in a fantastic stadium.
02:39 So, the day itself is what it's all about, from my point of view, for everybody.
02:44 From the management above me, my staff, the players, but most and foremost, the 4,500 to 5,000 people that we're going to be carrying up the M40 to Castle Bromwich.
02:56 And I can't wait to see them behind the goal.
02:58 I was going to say, for the supporters, obviously, it's going to be a great day for them to remember and look forward to at the moment.
03:05 Yes, it is. We've given them a couple of really good days this year already, just in this competition, but in the National League as well.
03:13 I think those that have endured the really bad times, at the turn of the century, this is almost a redemption day for them.
03:23 Let's hope, as far more, that the last four months come ahead of us as well.
03:29 We don't want the last four seasons, we want the last four months to be repeated as often as we can.
03:34 Josh Stokes suspended and Haji Minogu away at the combinations with Tanzania.
03:40 I guess you'll miss him, but opportunities for others?
03:42 Yes, listen, one man's misfortune is another man's opportunity.
03:46 I'm gutted in particular for Josh.
03:48 I mean, having to look back at the two incidents that he was cautioned for, in my opinion, he needs protection.
03:53 He's kicked off the ball, turns around, people say he shouldn't react.
03:58 Well, I don't know a human being in the world who gets kicked when he's not facing somebody, who wouldn't turn around and question why he was kicked.
04:05 That's the first one.
04:06 And the second one, it's a foul before he moves with the ball, it's a foul when he carries the ball.
04:12 And if it isn't a penalty, then it's a goal kick.
04:14 It's no more than that. It's not a caution. He doesn't dissent.
04:18 He doesn't appeal, in fact. The guy's over there with the yellow card a little quickly for me.
04:22 But it's happened and we can't do anything about it.
04:25 It's a shame that people who are so unqualified to make them decisions or make the outcomes, not the decisions, get to do that on a weekly basis.
04:35 Because it's happened quite a lot this season.
04:38 But to deprive somebody of that lad's potential, that stage to play on, is really a travesty of justice.
04:45 Is he going to travel up?
04:47 I've been joking to him he's going to have to stay back and just run.
04:50 But now, of course, we'll include him with the travelling party.
04:54 I offered him a few days off to go home back to Suffolk to see Mum and Dad and what have you.
05:00 But him being him, he wanted to come in and train and he's been in training with the lads.
05:04 He trained tomorrow morning, Saturday morning, in my final prep.
05:10 So, he's definitely certain to be part of it.
05:13 And Haji, obviously now with Tanzania, Africa Cup Nations, great opportunity for him.
05:17 Yeah, I mean, Haji put off going away for as long as he could.
05:20 He wanted to play but the Tanzanian FA quite understandably want him in their training camp pre-the competition.
05:28 So, at least he gave us the extra game at Woking where he wasn't well, actually.
05:33 But we all wish him all the very best for the Africa Nations Cup.
05:38 It's a hell of an achievement for a lad playing at National League level to be put on that stage.
05:43 I mean, that's a bigger stage than West Brom.
05:45 So, for him it's a great opportunity to showcase himself.
05:48 And I genuinely wish him and his teammates do really well.
05:51 And how's training been this week and another session tomorrow?
05:54 It's been wet. That's what it has been. It's been wet.
05:57 But it's bright, obviously, on the back of being unbeaten over the festive period.
06:02 To win it on New Year's Day gives everybody a bit of a fillet.
06:05 And it's nice because the week leading into the Swindon we didn't put in a great performance at Dorking, which is also local.
06:12 So, from that point of view, it's been really positive.
06:15 The group look fresh. We've got one session to go.
06:19 I don't think we could be in a better place mentally or physically as a group of people.
06:23 And that's testament to the players, to be fair.
06:26 There's only Christian Magoma now left with Liam on a full-time basis.
06:32 So, we've got numbers. We should have a full bench with a bit of luck.
06:36 And we look forward to making the trip up the end point.
06:39 And obviously this tie has been known for a few weeks.
06:41 How pleased have you been that the working games focused on that and you didn't let the seals get distracted?
06:48 It was a big part of my pre-game chat, actually.
06:51 Because, not that I thought that we weren't thinking about Swindon before we went there.
06:55 But when I look back, maybe we were.
06:57 Because there wasn't enough zeal, effort, whatever you want to call it, energy.
07:01 That wasn't at Dorking.
07:03 But when I asked them what the next game was, 10-3, and they said this one,
07:07 then I knew that they were in the right headspace.
07:09 The fact that they went and won the game, quite deservedly I felt in the end.
07:14 Put us, like I said, in a good place.
07:17 It's a day to enjoy, but we'll only enjoy it if we give the best account of ourselves that we can.
07:22 Because that way, everybody who goes and watches and supports us will come home as proud as I was.
07:27 Obviously, the tie is a reward for the three rounds you've come through already.
07:31 But is it also a bit of a reward for all the progress you've made this season, over the last four months?
07:37 We've not celebrated any of the three FA Cup wins that we've had so far.
07:42 That's Lewis, Swindon and Stoke-Moore.
07:45 I've suggested later on in the season, at the end of the season,
07:49 maybe we should have an evening where we do something where the highlights of all of the games,
07:53 during the whole of the run, and it's not over yet by the way,
07:56 should be put on big screens in this room, and we should all relive it together.
08:02 I think that would be a really good thing.
08:04 I don't want to be congratulated for anything at the minute, because I haven't achieved anything.
08:08 It's a work in progress, and I definitely think we're on the upward trajectory.
08:12 But to stop, stand still and start getting patted on the back now is something I keep telling the players I'm not going to do to them.
08:18 people doing that to me with all due respect.