Everton players a mystery to Boreham Wood manager Luke Garrard
All eyes will be on Goodison Park this evening as Everton welcome National League Boreham Wood to Merseyside in the FA Cup fifth round.
The non-league side caused a huge shock in the previous round as they went away to Championship high flyers Bournemouth and won 1-0 courtesy of a goal from captain Mark Ricketts.
Understandably, the Toffees head into the contest as heavy favourites to progress but Frank Lampard will be fully aware of the dangers Wood could pose.
Their manager Luke Garrard admitted that he knew very little about the Everton team when the draw was made although he will have done his research since.
“I’m so engrossed in the National League that I don’t have time to watch the Premier League, not even Match of the Day,” he said, as quoted by the Daily Mail.
“I was struggling to name Everton’s players until I watched them. I didn’t know anything about Anthony Gordon but what I’ve seen from him in the last four games is unbelievable.”
A small advantage
Garrard’s lack of knowledge of the Premier League may be short-lived with intense scouting a feature of football even in the fifth tier but it is still a small advantage to Lampard’s side.
They shouldn’t really need it given their opponent’s position in the English footballing pyramid.
Wood are still on course to go top of the fifth tier if they win all of their games in hand and as a team on a roll, they will cause problems for the Toffees’ defence.
Lampard has to ensure his players are preparing as they would for a league encounter because anything less could lead to a very embarrassing night for the football club.
A raucous Goodison Park crowd has helped Everton through games since the change in manager and that has to be present again to halt the non-league side from getting a head of steam early.
In other Everton news, Michael Owen has predicted tonight’s contest between Premier League and non-league.
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