Dean Smith's Brentford face the winners of tomorrow's replay...
Walsall winger Anthony Forde is determined to reach the FA Cup third round and set up a reunion with former boss Dean Smith.The Saddlers host Chesterfield in a second-round replay tomorrow night, knowing the winner will take on Smith’s Brentford on 9th January.
And Forde admits the players are excited by the possibility of facing their ex-gaffer, who joined the Bees from Walsall just a fortnight ago.
“We really want to get through because Brentford away in the next round could be a really good game,” said Forde.
“The circumstances because of the old gaffer and Richard O’Kelly going to Brentford makes it a bit more special.
“It would be weird and I think everybody would like it to happen.”
League One rivals Chesterfield are first up for Walsall tomorrow night – ten days after the sides drew 1-1 in the initial second-round tie.
And Forde is expecting another challenging fixture against the Spireites, who won the league meeting 2-1 at the Banks’s earlier in the season.
“They’re are a decent team and it’ll be a tough game again,” he added.
“A 1-1 draw was a fair result last time but they beat us at the Banks’s earlier in the season in a game we probably should have won.
“But hopefully we’ll be better this time and get the win.”
The Saddlers’ League One encounter at Fleetwood on Saturday was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.
And after being disappointed not to play, Forde is now relishing tomorrow’s return to action.
“We were very frustrated with the postponement as we were all up for it after travelling down the night before,” Forde commented.
“We were raring to go but then we got there and were told the game was off.
“We want to keep the momentum going and fortunately we’ve got a game Tuesday now to focus on so we’ll just concentrate on that now.”