Mark Robins says Maidstone United’s progression in the FA Cup proves the romance of the competition is still alive.
City take on the National League South side in the FA Cup Fifth Round, after their well-publicised journey to this stage.
However, Robins and his side will be looking to end that run, as they look to progress into the quarter-final.
Facing Maidstone and their threat…
“This is the FA Cup; it (giant killing) happens all the time and they played brilliantly against Ipswich. I saw half of the game live and saw how much energy they put into it, but also saw there were a lot of chances given up by Ipswich on the day.
The goalkeeper made some brilliant saves, and they made some really important blocks and they got two fantastic goals.
Whilst they are on the same pitch as you, they are on the same level as you and you have to make all that count and as long as we are right going into the game mentally and physically, we have a real chance of progressing, but they will see that as their opportunity as well.”
Having nothing to lose…
“They deserve to be where they are, they gave a really infectious and enthusiastic manager, and the players get that from him.
They have nothing to lose, but neither do we to be fair. We’re in a cup competition where you have to beat all comers and this tie was drawn out and we had a really tough games against Sheffield Wednesday previously and this is another tough tie but it’s a home tie and we look forward to it, there’s no doubt about it.”
The second game in the space of four days…
“Regardless of what’s going on we put a team out that we think and believe can win the game and that’s what we always do.
The FA Cup brings up different scenarios and problems, but we have to try and offer the solution for those on Monday.”
Maidstone’s story so far…
“The FA cup is a brilliant competition, and we say it every year and Maidstone being at this stage of the competition goes to show that it is still the case.
You talk about the fa cup and the romance of it and this tie typifies that and we know the neutral will be rooting for Maidstone, but we will be doing our up, most to disappoint them.”
The chance to progress into the quarter-final…
“You don’t look ahead to that, we have a tough game, they will be a difficult opponent for a number of reasons.
They’ve done fantastically well, the weight of support aside from Coventry will be behind them and that’s one of the things that makes the competition great.
We just prepare and plan as normal and hopefully that will be enough when we get on the pitch to put in a really good performance, but that’s something you have to do in every game.”