28 Sep 2008
VIDEO EXCLUSIVE: East Thurrock 3-0 VCD Athletic
East Thurrock striker Martin Tuohy scored his second successive FA Cup hat-trick against VCD Athletic.

Tamworth v East Thurrock United
The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON
Third Round Qualifying
3pm, Saturday 11 October 2008
Winning clubs will receive £7,500 from The FA

Having been on the wrong side of famous FA Cup upsets in the past, former Nottingham Forest defender Des Lyttle knows what it takes to cause a giant-killing.

Now 37, Lyttle plies his trade with Conference North side Tamworth, who hope to avoid an upset on Saturday when they host East Thurrock United of the Isthmian League's Division One North.

Lyttle was part of a Forest side which also contained the likes of Brian Roy, Kevin Campbell and Ian Woan and was expected to reach the Semi-Finals of The FA Cup in 1997 before falling victim to John Duncan's Chesterfield.

"I've got a half decent record in The FA Cup, but my best run coincided with my worst memory," recalled Lyttle.

"We had a good team under Frank Clark and were expected to beat Chesterfield and get to the last four, what with being a Premier League team.

"They went on and nearly beat Middlesbrough in the Semi-Final and we went out. It was all hugely disappointing not to get through - but that's The FA Cup."

Should Tamworth, who have made an encouraging start to their league season, slip up on Saturday it will barely register with the majority of football fans, but Lyttle insists the competition still invigorates players, even at this early stage.

He said: "The FA Cup is extremely important, particularly for clubs at this level who want to go on and make a bit of a name for themselves as well as getting some money in the bank.

"You always get a different feeling when you prepare for a game in this competition. I definitely still get a buzz out of it.

"It's a different sort of buzz now that I'm playing in non-League. It's a case of enjoying finding out whether I can still perform against younger guys and pitting my wits against some of the bigger fish should we progress through the next couple of rounds."

And should Tamworth reach the Third Round Proper, a feat they achieved in 2006 and 2007, Lyttle is hopeful of being drawn against Wolves, where he now works as an Academy coach.

"I'm doing some coaching with Wolves at the moment, so it would be great to play against them at Molineux," said Lyttle, who was born and bred in Wolverhampton.

"They are flying at the moment under Mick McCarthy who is doing a great job.

"You always think about playing one of your former clubs, too. But if we are to get drawn against Forest or West Brom, then we've got a lot of hard work to do first."