London (AFP) – Liverpool and Everton have helped out Merseyside neighbours Marine as they bid to pull off the greatest upset in FA Cup history against Tottenham on Sunday, the manager of the eighth-tier club has revealed.
There has never been such a wide disparity in league positions between two teams at the third-round stage the competition, when the big teams enter the fray.
Spurs are fourth in the Premier League, while part-timers Marine ply their trade in the Northern Premier League North/West division — the eighth tier of the English game.
Liverpool, who beat Spurs in the Premier League last month, have provided Marine with video analysis of Jose Mourinho’s side as well as use of their training ground.
“We are as well-prepped as we can be from a part-time perspective,” said Marine manager Neil Young.
“I have done a lot of analysis with the help of Liverpool, who have given us some information in terms of the games. We have done a lot of analysis on them (Spurs).”
Marine, whose league season is currently suspended as a result of strict coronavirus measures, have faced problems with their training facilities and are grateful for help from their two giant Premier League neighbours.
“Our pitch where we were due to train yesterday had to be covered due to the frost and then leisure centres that we would normally use to train have been closed because of (the Covid-19) lockdown,” said Young.
“We are very thankful that Everton stepped in to allow us to train last-minute at their training ground at Finch Farm and Liverpool have stepped in to allow us to train there tomorrow (Saturday).”
“We are very grateful for that. From a part-time perspective it is a little bit of a nightmare with these Covid restrictions.”
