‘Forget about the league’ – Brackley eye first FA Cup third round spot

Brackley Town know all about being patient – they finally won promotion to the National League earlier this year after reaching the play-offs six times between 2018 and 2024.

In the FA Cup, the Saints have reached round two on five occasions without managing to go any further, but maybe this could also be the year to put that right.

They will take on Burton Albion from League One on Monday (19:30 GMT) and unlike their four previous second-round ties, this one will be at their St James Park ground.

“I think it’s huge [being at home] in terms of going on to win the tie – I think it will play a massive part,” said Brackley boss Gavin Cowan.

“Our fans are incredible. When you think about the ratio between our population and the people that turn up every week, they come out in their droves for these games.

“We have evolved from a community club into a professional community club. The way things are done now around the club have improved dramatically.

“We are now in line with how clubs in the National League should be, on and off the field. That’s taken a lot of growth, a lot of time and effort from some brilliant people around the club.

Promotion in May meant Brackley did not have to enter the competition until the final qualifying round and following a 1-1 draw at Woking, they secured their place in the main draw with a thumping 6-2 home win in the replay.

Experienced forwards Matt Lowe and Danny Waldron both scored twice against opponents reduced to 10 men by a first-half red card, before Scott Pollock and Kyle Morrison added late goals to underline their victory at St James Park.

Lowe was also on target against Notts County in the first round and Brackley will again look to him as they plot an upset against Burton.

“He’s huge for us in terms of his leadership, his character, his endeavour. Big moments you have to be ready for, and Matt’s been there for them,” said Cowan.

Despite the modern reliance on data analysis, Cowan is a firm believer that ‘the eyes don’t lie’ and has been to watch the Brewers in the build-up to their cup collision.

“We’ve looked at Burton in great detail. You’ve got a real top football club there, a squad with a high skillset,” he told BBC Radio Northampton.

“We took in the game against Wigan the other night (Burton lost 1-0) and we know what we’re up against and we know what we’re going to have to do if we want to win the game.

“It’s really important to try and get eyes [on them]. We’re really fortunate now where we can watch games via laptops but there’s nothing like being there in reality.

“It was great to take in a game the other night and to learn something as well, understand about them and what they are and how they’re going to set up.

Despite the two-division gap between the sides, Cowan says the chance of an upset in front of TV cameras is there if Brackley show the right mentality.

“Ours will be at the highest level we can reach,” he said. “We’ve just got to hope that mentality then manifests itself in the physical world and we can run faster than them, jump higher than them, run further than them.

“This is the test the FA Cup brings. I suppose it’s a level playing field, you can forget about the league, it’s a one off so go out and try to be the best version of yourselves and try to win the game.”

Brackley have been in poor form of late, losing their past five league games to leave them precariously perched just above the relegation places.

But Bowyer’s Burton have also lost their way a little and were beaten in their past two matches after winning three of the previous four.

“Our form hasn’t been great in the league but this is the FA Cup – anything can happen,” added Cowan.

“In the history of the FA Cup there’s been many an upset, we’ve managed to create one [against Notts County] and want a second – there’s no reason why we can’t.”