UPSET-HUNTING Eastleigh boss Richard Hill expects a harder game at League Two Newport County AFC than against League One Reading despite criticising his “brittle” defence.
The Exiles host the National League side at Rodney Parade on Saturday in the third round of the FA Cup (kick-off 3pm).
Neither club got the Premier League big gun they had hoped for in the draw but they do have a golden shot at winning £105,000 in prize money and a place in round four, and potentially a money-spinner.
County have beaten a pair of National League sides to get to this stage after knocking out Oldham 2-0 and then Barnet 4-1 in a replay after being hit by a late equaliser in Newport.
They now go up against an Eastleigh side sitting 11th in the table and who beat Dover 1-0 and Boreham Wood 5-1 before stunning Reading 2-1.
The Hampshire side’s manager Hill is relishing the trip to Rodney Parade and a break from the push for the play-offs.
“You are getting away from the mundanity of the league, it can be a trudge,” he said. “It will be a good day out but only if we come away with a result.
“I went and watched them the other night and it will be a difficult game, a harder game than Reading, a different type of game and we will have to play well.”
Eastleigh head to Newport after back-to-back games with Dagenham and Redbridge in which they leaked four goals twice, losing 4-1 in East London before a 4-4 draw on home soil on New Year’s Day.
That led to Hill labelling his defence as “brittle” and challenged those at the back to mirror the efforts of hat-trick hero Paul McCallum.
“It’s a tough one,” he said after the draw. “We will go on the training ground and work on our defending, like we have been doing, and they will be great and do it properly.
“Then we will come to a game and who knows? You can see us getting nervous. It's a state of mind.
“We had a centre forward who has scored three goals and had no right to get on the end of his hat-trick goal.
“His desire to get on the end of the ball and score a goal was fantastic. We need that same attitude in defence; defenders need the same desire that they will get on the end of the ball and clear it.”
McCallum is clearly the dangerman for County after his double sank Reading in the last round.
The well-travelled 30-year-old striker is on a remarkable 25 goals for the season in 23 appearances. He has scored in eight of his last nine fixtures in all competitions.
KEY CLASHES
County's League Two game with Accrington was postponed because of their progress in the FA Cup.
They will be interested to find out the result from a key clash at the bottom on Saturday afternoon when struggling Salford host bottom club Forest Green Rovers.
Big-spending Colchester are in the last safe spot and will hope to profit from Swindon's slide down the table.
League Two fixtures: Harrogate v Doncaster (1pm), Barrow v Tranmere, Bradford v Crawley, Mansfield v Crewe, Salford v Forest Green, Swindon v Colchester.
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