We were rubbish at Redditch, says Nuneaton manager

The Nuneaton Borough manager Roger Ashby knows his players now have extra motivation ahead of their FA Cup third-round replay with Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium.

Ashby's Conference North team earned the right to a rematch after a late Gez Murphy penalty secured a 1-1 draw with the Teessiders. And the part-timers know should they prove capable of staging a Cup shock tonight, their reward will be a fourth-round encounter with neighbours Coventry City at the Ricoh Arena.

Ashby said: "For us to play Coventry in the next round of the Cup would be unbelievable for the club and for the town. But let's not kid ourselves - we're a million miles away from that happening. We're going to be running out against a Premiership side full from front to back with international footballers and we're obviously second favourites to get a result up there. Before Middlesbrough came down to Manor Park, myself and my assistant manager, Kevin Wilkin, went up to the Riverside to see Middlesbrough draw 0-0 with Manchester City and we told ourselves it would be wonderful to go up there for a replay.I watched the highlights of them losing 7-0 at Arsenal on Saturday but even so, I don't think Steve McClaren will be too worried if he'd had anyone watching us lose 3-0 at Redditch on Saturday. Because we were rubbish."