ECCLESHILL United boss Ryan Toulson has alluded to the size of Saturday’s FA Vase last-16 tie at home to Atherstone Town, by saying it will be a “monumental” day in the club’s history if they were to win.

United have seen off Seaham Red Star, Wythenshawe, Longridge Town and AFC Liverpool to get to this stage and with a final spot at Wembley Stadium in reach, their last-16 tie this weekend has added impetus.

For Eccleshill and boss Toulson, they never anticipated getting this far in the competition, but now they’re here both the club and coach are ready to grasp the opportunity with both hands.

Toulson admitted: “At the start of the season, we looked at the FA Vase as another cup competition where we’d take each game at it comes, so we never really looked this far ahead. So, to be where we are now, it’s a real credit to the lads because they’ve applied themselves really well in each and every game.

“Along the way we’ve come up against some very good sides, we’ve had some stumbling blocks with sending offs and injuries, but the lads have done really well to continue fighting and show ambition. We went down to ten men against Liverpool for the majority of the game and the boys’ heads could have dropped but they stayed in it, fought together and continued to stay in shape. So, I have to give so much credit to the players for getting us to this stage.”

Toulson added: “On the other hand, we are here now and entering the final stages of the competition so we will continue to fight until the very end. To get through to the quarter-finals of the FA Vase would be absolutely massive for the club and it would be one for the history books. It helps to generate a bit of income for the club as well, which is always great because any sort of income at this level helps the club massively.

“For myself, to get through to the quarter-finals would be a good achievement because it’s only my first season in management. But for the players, it’s in their hands and they’ve produced consistently up until this point and it’s about whether they can replicate that on Saturday. It’s a chance for them to make a statement and express themselves on such a big occasion, so they should be going into it with excitement behind them rather than fear.”

Their opposition this Saturday will be arriving from Atherstone, a town located just under five miles away from Staffordshire, and Toulson admitted that he’s had to do his homework on the side, with little knowledge and experience of coming up against them in the past.

He said: “I’ve managed to do my usual background checks on them, and we had them watched at the weekend so we are not going into it blind. We’ve got a few things that we’ve worked on this week, which I can’t say too much about. But we have identified some areas to exploit and hopefully that will stand us in good stead. It certainly gives us that extra little edge when going into the fixture; but I know that they’ll have probably done the same on us. We know that they’re travelling over the day before and staying over night to give themselves the best opportunity. It shows that they are preparing right, and we know that we must be on our A-game to get through to the last eight. We are all extremely excited.”

With Bradford City being away at Stevenage this weekend, make sure to get yourself down to Eccleshill United (3:00 pm) for a mammoth occasion. Any support will be welcome.