Smith to pit wits against his hero Little

Boss Rob Smith goes up against one of his football heroes tonight as AFC Telford United play host to Brian Little’s Gainsborough Trinity.

The Bucks are chasing a third consecutive victory after back-to-back 5-1 wins over Vauxhall Motors and Droylsden that have revitalised their Blue Square North campaign.

They will have to cope without striker Danny Carey-Bertram (hamstring), who scored four goals in the Vauxhall victory.

But Smith is still in upbeat mood as he looks ahead to the opportunity to pit his wits against Little, who guided Aston Villa to victory in the League Cup and fourth in the Premier League in 1996.

“It has been a surprise to see him working at this level, but I think the standard has probably surprised him,” said Villa fan Smith.

“As a player he was a massive hero of mine. I’ve not met him before, but I’ve spent plenty of money over the years paying to watch him.

“He did a good job as manager as well, but he really was an exceptional striker.

“It’s been a surprise to see Gainsborough struggling and I think most people would have tipped them to be in the play-offs with the money they’ve been spending and the pedigree of players they’ve got,” he added.

“For one reason or another it’s not worked so far, but Brian Little’s steadied the ship a little bit now.”

Smith is disappointed to be without Carey-Bertram tonight and also believes he only has an outside chance of being fit for Saturday’s clash with Redditch.

But he has been delighted by the two big wins in a week which have done so much for the team’s confidence.

“I put it down to the fact that we have started taking our chances,” he said.

“It won’t be 5-1 again, though. Gainsborough are a lot stronger than that and it will be a tight affair.

“We might have to be patient and the crowd might have to be patient as well.”