Fenton warns Blackburn Rovers of 'night from hell'

2:37pm Saturday 3rd January 2009

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GRAHAM Fenton has warned Blackburn Rovers boss Sam Allardyce to ‘expect a night from hell’ as his Blyth Spartans side bid to carry out the greatest ever FA Cup upset.

Former Rovers striker Fenton is now assistant manager at the struggling Blue Square North minnows and predicts Allardyce & co will have an uncomfortable evening in Monday’s FA Cup third round tie.

Spartans are expecting 4,200 supporters to pack into Croft Park to create a “real cup-tie atmosphere” and Fenton expects Allardyce to become a particular target for a partisan North East crowd.

He said: “Blackburn Rovers won’t know what it coming. It will be a culture shock for them because obviously Croft Park is not quite up to the standard of where they usually play.

“The dug-outs are very close to the crowd and I am sure Sam Allardyce will have a tough time of it. The majority of the fans will be Newcastle United fans and I am sure they will give him some stick about his time at St James’.

“Saying all that, I am sure Sam will take it professionally and it will probably be water of a duck’s back. It will be an interesting evening for Blackburn to say the least.

“There is going to be a special atmosphere on Monday night. It will be a hostile home crowd and everyone will go there believing the impossible can happen.”

Blyth’s second round win over League two outfit Bournemouth propelled them into the third round for the first time for 30 years as they enjoy a welcome distraction from their own league struggles.

An offer to switch the tie to Newcastle’s St James’ was swiftly turned down with Fenton relishing the prospect of experiencing the ‘magic of the cup’ once again.

Fenton said: “I think we are all glad we have not moved the tie to Newcastle. If you think about we might probably have got 15,000 there but the atmosphere would not have been good.

“The pitch at Croft Park will also be a real leveller. Rovers train and play on flawless surfaces all the time, whereas we are used to playing on park pitches.

“It is going to be interesting to see what Sam Allardyce with his team selection. He might take the chance to rest some of his first-team players but of course we know they have quality throughout.”

Fenton made just 27 appearances between 1995-97 at Rovers but retains fond memories of his time in Lancashire after a £1.5million move from Aston Villa.

He is fully focused though on adding further woe to Rovers’ stuttering season and helping Blyth to a place in FA Cup history.

He said: “You never know what will happen do you? If everything goes your way then upsets can happen, they have happened in the past haven’t they.

“We will tell our players to enjoy the night but they are going out there to win the game and will believe they have a chance. We have nothing to fear at all because we are in the no-lose situation.

“All the pressure is on Blackburn but, make no mistake, if we manage to beat them it has to go down as the biggest cup shock in history.”