Last updated at 11:13, Friday, 02 November 2012

Ebbsfleet manager Liam Daish is bidding to upset Carlisle United again tomorrow – after revealing how he once turned down the chance to play for the Blues “because it was too far from home”.

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The manager of Carlisle’s non-league opponents in tomorrow’s FA Cup first round tie says his Kent club are hopeful of ending their 350-mile trip with a “fairytale” victory that would heap more pressure on United and their boss Greg Abbott.

And Daish is no stranger to thwarting the Cumbrians over the years, having rejected a move to Brunton Park as a young pro and then enjoyed successes against the club as both a player and manager.

The former centre-half was the Birmingham captain who led his team to victory against United in the 1995 Auto-Windscreens Shield Final, when Carlisle played at Wembley for the first time.

Daish also began his near eight-year reign at Ebbsfleet – then known as Gravesend and Northfleet – with a shock 2-2 comeback draw at Brunton Park in Carlisle’s only Conference season in the 2004/5 campaign.

But the former Ireland international told The Cumberland News that he could once have been on the Blues books himself.

“I’ve always found Carlisle a good club, a well-run club, and when I was a young pro at Portsmouth I made the long trip up and nearly signed for Carlisle under Clive Middlemass.

“It was the 1987/88 season when they had the likes of Ian Bishop, and Dean Holdsworth had a spell there on loan.

“I was made very welcome and I found Clive a real football man but with me being from Portsmouth it was just too far for me and it didn’t happen.

“Carlisle have since cropped up a good few times in my career. The day at Wembley was just amazing. Both teams’ fans were out in their thousands at the old stadium and though winning with the golden goal was a bit weird, to be captain against Carlisle in that final was fantastic.

“I also remember playing up at Brunton Park with Cambridge in 1989 and then coming off at the end and being told that the Hillsborough disaster had happened.

“And then the start of my managerial career came with Gravesend and Northfleet at Carlisle. It was just after the floods up there and they were flying, but we managed to come back with a 2-2 draw.

“Now they’re a good side, holding their own in League One, so it’s a tough call for us this weekend but we’re looking forward to it.”

United are desperate for a victory tomorrow both for financial reasons and to ease some of the growing concerns about their form, particularly at home and at the back of Abbott’s team, where their defensive record is the equal worst in League One.

The Carlisle manager has laid down the law to his players this week and “wiped the slate clean” in terms of his team selection for the tie.

Daish, though, whose club is controlled by members of the internet scheme MyFootballClub, says his Blue Square Premier strugglers will play with optimism tomorrow to try to dump United out of the cup.

“We can’t just go into the game with the intention of hanging on,” he said. “We have got to try to take our destiny in our own hands and believe we can do something.

“We are going to need to be solid and defend well, but also have belief going forward that we can cause Carlisle problems.

“We know it will be difficult but this is what the FA Cup is all about. It churns out fairytales and a bit of romance. We are under no pressure apart from the pressure we put on ourselves.

“We have got to look forward to the occasion and enjoy it.”

Ebbsfleet are 22nd in non-league’s top division but have kept three straight clean sheets. Their team boasts plenty of football league experience with players such as ex-Brentford striker Nathan Elder and former Southend and Aldershot midfielder Louie Soares.

jcolman@cnmedia.co.uk

First published at 11:06, Friday, 02 November 2012
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk