HEAD Coach Neill Collins has a strong affinity with the FA Cup having reached the semi-finals with Sheffield United in 2014 - and he’s hoping to continue his connections with the competition with a win tonight against non-league opposition.
Horsham play in the Isthmian Premier League, the seventh tier of English football.
They are currently seventh with 19 points from ten games.
Horsham have won seven of their last eight games in all competitions and have lost just one of 14.
They won 2-1 at Larkhall Athletic in the FA Trophy on Saturday, in front of 206 fans.
But Collins said he expects a tough test.
“Horsham have been in the FA Cup at these stages before and they’ve got an experienced manager.
“They got a fantastic result in the previous round against a Conference team and we know the standard of that is very strong right now.
“It will be different and they’ll pose different challenges.
“I’ve played in similar games and it’s never straight forward.
“If we do the things we do very well, then we can make it difficult for anyone who comes here.”
About 2,000 tickets had been sold for tonight’s game as of midway through the week, with only the East Stand and the away end open.
The Reds have not failed to reach the third round since they were stunned by Conference club Altrincham in 2015.
Collins played in an FA Cup semi-final for Sheffield United but was also on the wrong end of some cup shocks in his playing career.
“I came back from on loan at Hartlepool for Sunderland and played against Northwitch Victoria at the Stadium of Light,” he said.
“I opened the scoring after ten minutes and we were able to win that day 3-1.
“I remember at Wolves, Cambridge were in the Conference, and we were two minutes away from drawing and I scored a last minute winner and saved the manager his job.
“These games could quite easily have gone the other way.
“I’ve been knocked out by Brentford when we were in the Premier League at Sunderland and I got DJ Campbell his move to Birmingham on the back of a poor defensive performance.
“It’s never nice to be on that side of a giant killing - I’ve had both sides of it.”
Barnsley were asked by the police to move the game to either Friday or Sunday due to the number of South Yorkshire sides scheduled to play at home on Bonfire weekend.
The Reds’ women are due to play on the main pitch on Sunday.
Eventually the FA decided the game would be played on Friday, with the Barnsley Supporters Trust ‘extremely disappointed that this game appears to have been moved in the manner it was, and the fact that supporters were not consulted, or more importantly kept informed, before the decision was made and publicised’.
If the match is drawn, it will go to a midweek replay in Sussex.
