Nuneaton Borough v Middlesbrough
The FA Cup Third Round Proper
Manor Park 
3pm, Saturday 7 January 2006
Winning clubs receive £40,000
7 January 2006
Nuneaton v Middlesbrough preview

Hear from the Nuneaton camp ahead of their game with Boro', and we also look ahead to Watford v Bolton Wanderers.

Injury-jinxed Middlesbrough striker Malcolm Christie is guest of honour at his former club Nuneaton Borough for their FA Cup third-round clash with Steve McClaren's men.

Christie, 26, remains sidelined after two years of major injury problems. But the former supermarket shelf-stacker, whose big break came when Derby County signed him from Nuneaton in a £100,000-plus deal in 1998, was thrilled to be invited back to his old Manor Park haunt.

He said: "Playing for Nuneaton was a fantastic time in my career. It was a great shop window and made me believe I could move on to bigger things than Nuneaton.

"I had been playing parks football before going to Nuneaton and it was such a massive step for me to play in the Dr Marten's Premier League.

"I felt so privileged because I was being paid to play football and I was also earning a wage working at a supermarket.

"Sometimes there were six or seven scouts from Midlands clubs watching me. I played alongside doctors and schoolteachers and it gave me the chance to experience football from the other side.

"It was a good one-and-a-half hour drive to training, although we were well looked after. The fans are very enthusiastic and we had crowds of up to 4,000 in my time there.

"I was delighted when Nuneaton inivited me down for the Cup tie. I was really elated when we were paired against them in the draw - I just thought 'wow'.

"I've always looked out for their results and a couple of my former playing colleagues are still at the club.''

Christie, recovering from a twice-fractured leg and foot, hopes to be playing again in the next month.

He admitted: "It's been frustrating, but I have to be patient and keep the reins on because I don't want to break down again.''

Meanwhile Michael Love has been drawing on inspiration from an FA Cup classic as he prepares to take on Middlesbrough in the Third Round on Saturday.

Defender Love, 32, knows all about the glamour of the Cup after playing for Stevenage against Newcastle in a legendary tie in 1998. On that day Stevenage famously held the Premiership giants, Alan Shearer and all, to a 1-1 draw and were unlucky to lose the replay 2-1 at St James’ Park.

Now Love, who broke his foot playing against the Magpies, hopes to have more success against another side from the North East. And, having trained to become a chiropodist in recent years, he wants to boot Middlesbrough out of the Cup!

"I played for Stevenage against Newcastle in 1998 and that gives me inspiration for this tie," he said. "The game was a similar experience to this because it was immense for the town of Stevenage. It’s the same for Nuneaton.

"I remember Newcastle kept the ball a lot but they didn’t really hurt us. Once we settled down and found our feet it was just like a normal game. A few lads were a bit tense on the day but it’s important to enjoy it and we did. Hopefully we can do the same with Nuneaton."

If Nuneaton can match what Stevenage did eight years ago it could be an amazing feat.