WEYMOUTH captain Josh McQuoid insisted the Terras would not be “afraid” of Dover Athletic heading into their crunch FA Cup fourth qualifying round tie today (3pm).
McQuoid, 29, who has previous FA Cup experience with Bournemouth, Millwall, Luton and Coventry, could add Weymouth to that list should the Terras win to reach the first round proper for the first time in 13 years.
And the former Northern Ireland international is seeking a winning mentality from the Terras when they play Dover – a National League side ranked 16 places above them in the English football pyramid.
He told Echosport: “Obviously they’re in the league above but I don’t think we’ve got to be afraid of anything.
“This season we’ve surprised a few people with how we’ve been doing. We’ve just got to get the mentality that we can win the game and just play our football.
“It’s massive for the club, massive financially and it gets our name out there. We’ve been doing well in the league and people will start recognising us more and show we’re a club that can’t be messed with.”
McQuoid believes Dover, who have failed to win in their past three league games, will have done their homework on the Terras.
He said: “They’ll definitely know about us. They’ll do their scouting reports like we do ours. It’s big for them to go through financially because it helps out massively for clubs in the lower leagues.
“They won’t be taking the game lightly, so we’ve got to be 100 per cent and make sure we’re at our best.”
Weymouth could also play the underdog card, according to the Weymouth skipper.
“The gaffer’s mentioned that before,” McQuoid said. “We’ve happily taken that and we will go in as underdogs. Hopefully we’ll prove a few people wrong.”
