Fleetwood's Dempsey bids to beat cup demons

Fleetwood midfielder Kyle Dempsey wants to erase his bad FA Cup memories with a win at Southport on Monday.
Kyle DempseyKyle Dempsey
Kyle Dempsey

The 21-year-old is on a season-long loan deal from Huddersfield and played in the Terriers’ 5-2 third-round defeat at Reading in January, when they let a 2-0 lead slip in the replay.

Dempsey was also in the Carlisle side beaten at Peterborough in the first round the previous season and he does not want to taste defeat again against a Southport side 57 places below Town in the football pyramid.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He said of last season’s cup torment: “We had a 2-2 draw with Reading at our place. Down there we were 2-0 up after 15 minutes, then we had a man sent off (Jon Hogg) and they came back and won 3-2.

“I only have bad memories of the FA Cup so far but it is massive, probably the biggest you can play in, and you want a good run.

“For us it is a good tie to advance to the next round, so I we have to seize the opportunity and give it everything.

“Hopefully we can progress and draw bigger teams, which is your chance to perform.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Southport will come at us all guns blazing because it is a massive game for them. They will be thinking the same as us about getting a big team.

“It is just about us settling the game down and playing at our tempo. You can get stuck in a long-ball game in these matches but we have to keep to our game-plan.

“You don’t get that many opportunities at this level to play on TV, so it’s a great chance to broadcast yourself as a player.

“It is also an opportunity at Huddersfield, who I will be going back to in the summer.”

Dempsey has settled into life on the Fylde coast. He said: “I came off the bench in my first game and got an assis, so I got off to a good start and I’ve put in some good performances.”