By Matt Bishop
York City defender Dan Parslow is determined to avoid another cup shock when the Minstermen travel to South Shields on Saturday afternoon.
The experienced 32-year-old was part of the Cheltenham side who were beaten in the second round of last season's FA Cup by by Sutton United, before Paul Doswell's men went on an amazing run that saw them eventually face Arsenal.
Because of that sobering defeat, Parslow knows how bad it feels to be on the wrong end of a shock, so he is not under-estimating Shields, despite them being two divisions below York.
Speaking to The Press, the defender said: “South Shields won at Wembley last season like us and are a good team, who are doing very well in the league they are in, so they've got some good players and it's a tough draw for us.
“They've had success at home and there will be a big crowd there, so we know we can't go up there half-hearted and we'll be ready from the first whistle.
“We need to prove we can go away to teams who are expected to do well and get a result, which we have already done in the previous round against Salford. We know we can do it again.”
South Shields will be on an FA Cup high after their stunning 3-0 win over Darlington in the previous round, and they have only tasted defeat once in their last 50 games, so Parslow knows how difficult the weekend's task could be.
However, the defender has enjoyed some great cup runs with York, having played against then Premier League side Bolton in 2011 and Stoke a year later, and is keen to extend the club's stay in the FA Cup and test himself against the best again.
“I've enjoyed some great runs with this club and hope that can carry on after Saturday,” said Parslow. “The first aim is to get to the first round proper and, then, you want to get to that magical third round draw hopefully.
“Getting that chance to play at Premier League stadiums in the third round is up there in terms of my career highs, along with the Wembley wins here and winning the Conference with Cheltenham.
“It's nice to get a bit of attention for the football club and a bit of glamour and publicity.
“It means you're obviously doing something right and the hope is the results can be translated into good league form too.”
