AFC Wimbledon boss excited by nostalgic Sutton clash

AFC Wimbledon will have come full circle when they travel to neighbours Sutton in the third round of the FA Cup.

In 2002 the club's first official match, following their creation in the aftermath of the old Wimbledon's move to Milton Keynes, was a friendly against Sutton.

Now 15 years later, and after six promotions up to Sky Bet League One, they make an emotional trip back to where it all began at Gander Green Lane.

Dons boss Neal Ardley is well aware of the significance of the fixture.

"I am a local boy, my parents live not far down the road from Sutton," he told Dons Player.

"I am all up with Sutton's history, Wimbledon's history, and the relationship between the two clubs.

"It's a romantic draw really. For the outsiders, there is a nice edge to it as both clubs have got a nice history together.

"The whole local community - dads' friends, brothers' friends, or whoever, are all quite excited by the prospect of this tie.

"It will be a really evenly matched game. We are very desperate to put in a good performance and the FA Cup means a lot to us."

Of course, both of these clubs have left their own indelible marks on the cup in the last 30 years.The old Wimbledon's famous 'Crazy Gang' final win over mighty Liverpool to lift the trophy in 1988 was followed a few months later by Sutton knocking out the previous year's winners - Coventry - in the third round.

And much like that United side who triumphed 28 years ago to the day, manager Paul Doswell insists the current crop - 14th in the Vanarama National League - have nothing to lose.

"We're really looking forward to it, it's a win-win for us really," he told thefa.com. "If we get through, brilliant, if we don't we've had a great run.

"The message I'm going to get across is for the players not to fear the game, to enjoy it and embrace it. There's no reason on any given day why we can't."