England

4-1

Holland

Morison (pen) 36, Charnock 40, Boyd 72, Mackail-Smith 77

 

Thé 5

European Challenge Trophy
7.45pm, Wednesday 29 November 2006
Burton Albion FC

It's been a big week for Morecambe midfielder Craig Stanley and on Saturday he hopes it will get even better. After leading England's National Game XI to victory over Holland on Wednesday night, he's now preparing for an FA Cup tie away at Swindon.

The former Hereford United man hadn't played for England since May 2005, but was called back into Paul Fairclough's side for the European Challenge Trophy decider at Burton Albion against the Dutch.

Just to play in the match would have been good enough, but Stanley was surprised with the coach handed him the armband.

"It’s probably the greatest honour of my career so far, it felt really good," Stanley told TheFA.com. "I’ve been playing in the conference now for the last three and a half years and I last played for England 18 months ago.

"I was disappointed not to be involved earlier this year because I thought I deserved to get a chance, but it wasn’t meant to be," he said. "I worked hard at Hereford, but things didn’t work out there so I moved to Morecambe and I'm really enjoying my football.

"I think my performances with them have helped me get a place in the England team. But I was quite shocked when Paul asked me (to be captain) - it’s a great honour for me.

He added: "I felt a little bit nervous leading the team out, I’ve only ever been captain a few times a couple of years ago when I was on loan at Raith Rovers, but that’s not to the same standard as this. Captaining your country at any level is a huge honour and this was brilliant for me."

England came from behind to earn a 4-1 victory sealing the tournament's first ever title and the 23-year-old believes England were very good value for the win.

"We started the game quite well, but a little bit of slack play let them in. To be fair they scored a great goal, so credit to them, and they made it difficult for us," said the ex-Walsall player.

"But we managed to get in 2-1 up at half-time and I think we were still the better team, and it could have been more. In the second-half we carried on playing the same way, we didn’t force it too much but kept creating chances and in the end won it quite comfortably.

"Now I’ll be turning my attention towards Swindon on Saturday, it’s a big game for us, one that we’re all really looking forward to."

Morecambe are currently sitting in seventh in the Nationwide Conference, while their opponents at the County Ground are lying second in League Two. However, Stanley is not concerned by league status and is confident that he and his team can earn a place in the hat for the Third Round of The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON, and maybe even a tie against one of England's big guns.

"For a club like us, our aim is to get into the Third Round and perhaps get a big club like Liverpool, Manchester United or Chelsea. As a player you always want to have a chance of playing against the big clubs.

"We know we might not be able to play for them, but to go up against one of the top sides in the country is the next best thing," he insisted.

"We can’t really think about that too much, though, as we still have a job to do and even if we did win we might not even by lucky enough to draw a Premier League team.

He added: "Against Swindon we’ll all be up for it, we’ve been playing well lately. Michael Twiss has been looking good and has been getting a few goals.

"But we have a lot of very good players who will not make it easy for them and hopefully we can cause an upset and come away with the win and a place in the hat for Round Three."

Morecambe visit Swindon for their FA Cup Second Round proper tie on Saturday afternoon. Kick off at the County Ground is at 3pm. Click here for a full list of Second Round fixtures.