THE Newport County AFC FA Cup heroes will be anxious to get their hands on the shirts of their illustrious opponents after tomorrow’s match – but any Manchester City star who wants to swap may well be disappointed.
County have made more than £1m from their run to the fifth round, but striker Jamille Matt has revealed that the players were told to hang on to their shirts after their draw at Middlesbrough in round four.
And he’s not sure whether he’ll be able to hand his over if he gets the opportunity to swap with the likes of Sergio Aguero or Kevin De Bruyne this weekend.
“The way the club is, we couldn’t swap shirts at the away game [at Boro] because we needed to keep them for the next game,” explained Matt in the club’s matchday programme.
“I was asked by a few fans if I could throw my shirt into the crowd, but I couldn’t because otherwise I wouldn’t have had another one for the next game.
“That’s the contrast between the clubs but Middlesbrough were brilliant in still giving us their shirts.
“I cheated a little bit because I knew the kit man from my time at Stevenage so I sent a message off to get John Obi Mikel’s shirt.
“It was his debut and he’s a Champions League winner so I needed to get that one, a couple of the lads got other shirts so that was a nice touch from Middlesbrough.
“I didn’t manage to get another shirt at the home game because they shot off pretty quickly. But their players did come up to us and congratulate us on our performance which again showed what a good club they are.”
Joss Labadie joked that he’ll have to ask the City players for cash if they want his shirt.
“I’m not fussy with the shirt-swaps but I’m a huge fan of Fernandinho as he plays in a similar position,” said the midfielder.
“But you look around the whole team, they’re all magnificent players and it’ll be an honour to be on the same pitch as them.
“If we do swap shirts, it’ll probably cost us £40 to get a new one. If anyone asks for my shirt, I’ll have to tell them that it’ll cost them!”
Matt has scored against Metropolitan Police, Wrexham and Leicester City in County’s cup run and he’d love another goal tomorrow.
“Before this season, I hadn’t played against a Premier League team in the FA Cup so it will be a massive game,” said the 6ft 1ins front man.
“We obviously had an eye on that game before the Middlesbrough replay, but I didn’t want to tempt fate and I was fully focused on the replay.
“It’s a brilliant reward for how the team is performing this season.
“Manchester City are the current Premier League champions and they are the recent benchmark of teams to pit your wits against.
“That’s where the excitement comes from – putting yourself against the best team in club football.
“I’m an Arsenal fan so I wasn’t happy with the result against the other week,” he added, referring to the Gunners’ 3-1 defeat at the Etihad.
“Laurent Koscielny scored for Arsenal that day and he’s a defender, so if I score against Man City then that proves I’m better than [Pierre-Emerick] Aubameyang and [Alexandre] Lacazette – you heard it here first!
“Seriously though, there would be no feeling that could top scoring against City.”
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