Skipper backs United to shock Barnet

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Hayes & Yeading United captain Dean Inman has called on stay-away supporters to return to Kingfield and roar the team to an FA Trophy upset against Edgar Davids’ Barnet.

United take on the Conference Premier giants on Saturday with a  place in the last 32 and £5,000 up for grabs.

Barnet are expected to bring several hundred travelling fans with them to United’s adopted home at Woking, potentially tripling the average league gate for a Hayes and Yeading game.

Inman hopes the occasion will lure back those who have decided not to make the 42-mile round trip to home matches.

The United skipper told West London Sport: “A lot of the Hayes and Yeading faithful are boycotting home games for their own reasons and you can’t really blame them with the journey.

“But it would be great to have some of the old boys back for this one. I know Barnet will bring a few hundred and if we can match them it will make for a great atmosphere.”

Former Dutch international Davids, now 40, is head coach at Barnet but is still registered to play and has featured in six of their 21 Conference Premier games this season.

Inman admitted he grew up admiring Davids while watching him play on TV – but guaranteed none of the United players would be awestruck.

And the former Hampton & Richmond centre-back believes United are more than capable of pulling off a giantkilling, in spite of back-to-back league defeats.

“We’re looking at this very much as a winnable game,” he said.

“They might get complacent, or rest a few of their players, but we will be going at it with a full-strength side.

“It’s our cup final, if you like. We’ve got nothing to lose. Only Barnet have something to lose from the game.”

Whether Davids selects himself, or retains a watching brief from the Kingfield dugout, he will pit his managerial wits against United boss Phil Babb, 18 years on from a Euro ’96 play-off between Holland and Ireland which featured both men.

Babb said: “We look at Saturday as a pressure-free game and a chance for the lads to prove themselves against a Conference Premier side.”