Eastleigh Are Urged To Grab Opportunity Of A Lifetime Tonight

Eastleigh manager Richard Hill has urged his players to grab the chance of a lifetime tonight.

Victory over Newport County would set up comfortably the biggest game in the club’s history - a home fourth round match with football powerhouse Manchester United.

The Spitfires beat Dover Athletic, fellow National League side Boreham Wood and stunned League One strugglers Reading on their way to the third round, grabbing what could be a precious equaliser at Rodney Parade at the start of January.

Hill, in his third spell in charge, says there is no question that his players will let the magnitude of the reward on offer impact their game.

The manager says it is simply massive - and not just because a win in Tuesday’s replay could earn the club upward of £500,000.

He said: “Forget what it could lead to financially, I don’t know because I don’t get involved in that. The financial side could be good, but just to get Manchester United to the Silverlake would just be - I keep saying it’s going to be massive, but it’s massive.

“My message to the players has been that today it might mean nothing that you got to the fourth round of the FA Cup personally.

“But in another 15 or 20 years’ time, when there is a little snippet in the programme, local paper, that filters its way back through, it will mean something.”

Hill added: “What it means to me is insignificant compared to what it means for the football club and the fans of this club, that I have been associated with for a decade, on and off.”

He has a message to the supporters ahead of their second go with the League Two side - just raise the roof.

“They were absolutely fantastic at Newport in the first game,” he said. “I had said to them before that they could be our 12th man, but they were actually our 11th and 12th man after the red card.

“It needs to be the same tomorrow night. We need to get the supporters behind us right from the start to the finish.”

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