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Friday, November 15, 2002

Only Grant missing for big match

Hereford United have only attacker John Grant missing for tomorrow's FA Cup match against Wigan Athletic at Edgar Street, kick off 5.35pm.

The televised first round match is United's biggest of the season, and Grant misses out with a broken leg picked up almost two months ago.

Ben Smith, the former Arsenal midfielder, could feature once again afte rmaking his debut in last Saturday's game against Southport.

United have won just once in their last seven games but that has not hampered the confidence of skipper Ian Wright. The FA Cup has a special place in the calendar and United are one of those clubs who relish the situation.

"We're getting quite used to it after last year and the hype is certainly there because of Sky and it just adds to the occasion," Wright said. "The FA Cup has always been special and for a lot of teams it is the chance to play against higher teams and show what you can do but to be honest I don't think there is a great deal of difference between the Second Division and the Conference."

Recent matches have been disappointing but Wright is still confident, continuing: "The results haven't been good but performance wise we have been playing quite well. Things have just gone against us and we just need a change of luck. Wigan are doing well and I've seen them a few times on television but they are beatable - we don't have anything to fear.

"We can't wait to get into action, we're raring to go and it should be an exciting contest."

Wigan will miss Jason De Vos (thigh) and Lee McCulloch (ankle), and manager Paul Jewell said: "We want to win, but it will be a tough game. We have to match them physically and, hopefully, our ability will then be able to come through.

"We can rest assured that Hereford will be right up for the game. We have had them watched and we are paying them all the respect we can. But I tend not to focus on the opposition, it's about our performance on the day."