One from the messenger
Skipper draws on experience
By Connor Murphy
Comment
Tinson in action for Alty.
NOBODY needs to explain to Darren Tinson the significance of the FA Cup.
While most Conference players can only dream of causing an upset against a Premiership side, for the Alty centre half it's a case of been there, done that'.
Tinson was part of the Burton Albion team that held Manchester United to a 0-0 draw at the Pirelli Stadium in the Third Round back in 2006.
The Conference side never looked out of place for one minute against a United side that included Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Louis Saha, Wes Brown and all-star substitutes Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo, grabbing a result that shocked the football world.
They eventually lost 5-0 in the replay at Old Trafford but that initial moment of glory opened Tinson's eyes to the opportunities avaialble in the world's most famous cup competition.
He told SAM Sport: "To be honest, we weren't doing too well in the league before the United game, we were struggling at the time.
"We had to beat a couple of non-league teams, Leek and Burscough, and we played Peterborough as well before reaching the Third Round.
"We didn't do anything different to prepare for the game. The manager told us to go out there and do our best, put a foot on the ball and put in a performance we could be proud of.
"It was a strange experience. I just remember that they didn't have a clock or scoreboard at Burton but they put one in for that game, so I couldn't stop myself from looking at it.
"I remember looking at it 15 minutes in and thinking 'I can't believe it's still 0-0'. I kept looking at it throughout the half and it was still 0-0, it was unbelievable.
"When we got in at half time and it was still 0-0, the manager said to us 'you can't let this slip now'. The longer it went on like that, the more it frustrated them and we were able to hold out.
"If the fans can get behind us and we get going straight from the off, we've got a chance."
Darren Tinson
"I think the pitch at the time was a shocker and resembled a beach more than a pitch. They certainly weren't happy with that and it was a lot tighter than usual so they weren't used to it.
"But we did put in an incredible performance on the day."
Despite Alty's poor start to the league campaign, which has seen them win just twice in 17 games, Tinson doesn't see any reason why they can't cause an upset of their own on Saturday.
The Robins skipper senses the same kind of spirit in the Moss Lane dressing room that allowed his previous club to shock United and knows that anything can happen in a cup tie.
"These lads want the same (as the players at Burton), they want to do well for Alty," he added.
"I remember playing Alty many years ago and they always seemed to be one of the teams that pulled off the shocks so I'm sure Millwall won't be wanting to come here, especially as they've not had the best of runs recently," he added.
"It's a one-off game and it's about whoever wants it more on the day. We have some good players here who will want to progress and showcase what they can do.
"The lads are looking forward to it and with it being a one-off game your league form goes out of the window. If the fans can get behind us and we get going straight from the off, we've got a chance.
"At Burton we put a great run together and went up the table and ended up midtable so a result on Saturday could be just what we need to kick on."
4:31pm today
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Darren Tinson interview on the BBC website
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