Emirates FA Cup
Grant Black’s Ossett Town face Solihull Moors, bidding to reach the FA Cup first round proper for the first time in the club’s history
Grant Black admits Ossett Town’s status as underdogs going into the fourth qualifying round tie at National League side Solihull Moors suits his team down to the ground.
Since Black, the undisputed best young manager in the Evo Stik, took over at Ingfield in February 2016, Ossett have been constantly written off.
He steered them away from relegation danger before leading them to the play-off final and to within three minutes of promotion last season.
Now Ossett face another date with destiny. A win will book a First Round proper place for the first time in the club’s history, but Black is well aware his side face a mammoth ask.
“It is a massive game with a massive carrot dangled at the end of it,” Black told Non League Yorkshire.
“If we can pull something off it would be massive for the club. That’s we are looking to do. Obviously we want to put in a good account of ourselves, but we’re going with the intention of getting a result, whether that’s getting a draw or nicking a win.
“They’re three leagues ahead of us. I hear people say that they’re not doing great, but listen, they’re not doing great in a league that is surrounded by some massive clubs.
“They are three leagues above us for a reason and we’re under no-illusions that technically they are going to be a better side than us. What we have to do is make sure we’re tough to beat, we’re organised and that we try and frustrate them as much as we can.
“The players are going to have put in the performances of their lives. In the league we’re in, you can have seven or eight players who are on, but three or four who aren’t and still win games.
“Going into a game against a team like Solihull, you have to have 13 or 14 players all on it to stand any chance of getting a result.
“Being the underdog is something we’re used to being. A lot of the lads thrive on it and it is something we have to try and feed off and use it to our advantage.
“Being the underdog is something we have tried to build our team on. We’re massive underdogs going into Saturday and we’ll roll on that.”