MATT YOUNG feels that it is a privilege to play in the FA Cup as Woking prepare for their First Round replay at Bury this evening.
The defender, 23, has made 14 appearances for the Cards since replacing the injured Louis Ramsay at right-back this season, putting together a string of impressive performances.
PHOTO BY DAVID HOLMES – A FULL SET CAN BE VIEWED AT www.wokingfc.co.uk
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Speaking after the initial 1-1 draw last Sunday, Young is blessed and honoured to be playing in such a traditional competition, and believes the distance travelling to these games will not be an issue.
He told Radio Woking Sport: “Some people get up and commute to work at 4am in the morning and don’t get back until 8pm at night so I can imagine that’s a trek, but for us, it’s a privilege.”
“We get driven up there to play 90 minutes of professional football so to put it into context, it’s the FA Cup, millions of people around the world watch it and I’m playing in it so I’m grateful to be here.”
Matt Young – Photo by David Holmes, a full set can be viewed at www.wokingfc.co.uk
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Woking got off to a disastrous start in the original tie at the Laithwaite’s Community Stadium, conceding after just 42 seconds courtesy of a defensive mix-up.
However, the Cards responded through Jamie Philpot’s header, and the hosts dominated proceedings and were unlucky not to come away with the victory, something Young echoes.
He added: “We’ve been the better team for nearly the whole game, we played well, we stuck to our game plan and we’ve come away thinking it’s good because they are a couple of division higher than us but we’re a bit disappointed.”
PHOTO BY DAVID HOLMES – A FULL SET CAN BE VIEWED AT www.wokingfc.co.uk
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“The game was there for the taking, you sensed that around the ground and on the pitch, we’ve had the better chances but we’ll go back up there and do the same things again.”
The defender has also praised the work of his side on the training ground, with Woking coming into their own in the closing stages, due to their remarkable fitness of the players.
“We know when we turn up, we’re a match for any team regardless of what league they play in. You saw that with the fitness, they were struggling more than us towards the end,” said Young.
“It didn’t surprise me, because we put in work in training, I don’t want to be arrogant, we play on the front foot at a high intensity so when it gets to the later stages of games, we are going to be able to run over teams and it would surprise me more if we were the ones falling off.”