Boreham Wood coach Luke Garrard cannot wait for the Everton game in the fifth round of the FA Cup. He’s been preparing for weeks now, cannot sleep and drives his wife crazy, so the soon the game is over, the better. Boreham Wood are currently members of the National League, the fifth tier of English football, and they are buzzing since last round, where they famously knocked out second placed Championship side Bournemouth.✋ 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐘 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐙 𝐄 𝐑 𝐎 goals conceded in this season’s #EmiratesFACup run#WeAreTheWood pic.twitter.com/XQihsKY4Tp— Boreham Wood FC (@BOREHAM_WOODFC) March 1, 2022 Garrard became a celebrity and was a guest of national TV channels after that win, and now everybody knows about a club from a small town (population 32.000). But the coach is preparing for the match all day, every day.“I’m driving my wife mad. She says I’m thinking too much. I’m wired. Up at 4.30am after going to bed at half past midnight. I’d managed to park the Everton game, but this week I’ve been excitable and I have to get my emotions in check” admitted Garrard.##EDITORS_CHOICE##Young Boreham coach was also impressed when his counterpart, the famous Frank Lampard, who congratulated him after the draw.“Our secretary rang to say Frank Lampard’s PA has asked for your number, can I send it? I was like, ‘Please tell me you have sent it already’. I was sitting there getting quite giddy, unsure whether it could be a call or a text. He sent me a message to say: ‘On a coach-to-coach level, I want to congratulate you and, as a club, we welcome you — but hopefully not so much when the game starts’. That shows you the measure of the man” recalls Garrard.It’s official: Match officials helped Manchester City to beat EvertonOne of the reasons why Boreham coach was so methodic in his preparation is because he has very little knowledge of the Premier League.’I’m so engrossed in the National League that I don’t have time to watch the Premier League, not even Match of the Day. I was struggling to name Everton’s players until I watched them. I didn’t know anything about Anthony Gordon but what I’ve seen from him in the last four games is unbelievable” admitted Garrard.Sharks trio out for rest of the seasonAnd while Boreham players and staff are not sleeping from excitement, Everton have other, more important issues. The Toffies have started to remove all branding connected to Alisher Usmanov firms from the club’s Goodison Park ground ahead of tonight’s FA Cup tie against Boreham Wood. Everton have confirmed that they are suspending their sponsorship agreements with Russian companies USM, Megafon and Yota with immediate effect. Alisher Usmanov, owner of USM and its affiliated companies, has ties to Vladimir Putin – and has been recently sanctioned by the European Union due to those links. So, the only person who is even thinking about Everton’s next opponent is the head coach Frank Lampard.“We treat them with the utmost respect which is why we’ll prepare the same as any other game. I watched their game against Bournemouth and you can see the way they want to play. It was a special evening. I felt it was right to congratulate the coach and offer him an early warm welcome to Goodison” said Lampard.🔑#BorehamWood fun facts😊 This will be the club’s 1st competitive game vs top-flight opposition.4️⃣ They have won all of their four FA Cup matches at an aggregate scoreline of 9-0.🧤They are the 1st non-league club to produce a clean sheet in all 4 of their #FACup rounds pic.twitter.com/8EjUwEWMwx— betPawa Kenya (@betPawaKE) March 3, 2022 Everton boss confirmed that youngsters Lewis Dobbin, Reece Welch and Isaac Price will all be in the Everton squad for this game. The trio have been training with the first team at regular intervals over the course of recent months, with the former in particular already making his Premier League debut earlier this term. And if there are no unpleasant surprises, they will start the match or play their part during the game. FA CUP Fifth RoundTuesdayPeterborough – Man.City 0-2 (0-0)/Mahrez 60, Grealish 60/Crystal Palace – Stoke 2-1 (0-0)/Kouyate 53, Riedewald 82 – Tymon 58/Middlesbrough. – Tottenham 1-0 (0-0) AET/Coburn 107/WednesdayLuton Town – Chelsea 2-3 (2-1)/Burke 2, Cornick 40 – Saul 27, Werner 68, Lukaku 78/Southampton – West Ham United 3-1 (1-0)/Perraud 31, Ward-Prowse 69 (p), Broja 90+3 – Antonio 60/Liverpool – Norwich 2-1 (2-0)/Minamino 27,39 – Rupp 76/Thursday23.15: (1.15) Everton (9.00) Boreham Wood (22.0)Monday22.30: (2.10) Nott.Forest (3.50) Huddersfield (3.80)
