Chasetown v Cardiff

Chasetown v Cardiff City

Scholars Ground

Kick off 1pm

Chairman John Donnelly believes Chris Slater is Chasetown's answer to Bobby Moore.

And the Scholars supremo is convinced the spirit is so strong among the squad, they could hold their own in the Blue Square Premier right now.

Chasetown head into the biggest game in their history against Cardiff tomorrow with the odds stacked massively against an upset.

The gulf in class – six divisions and 161 league places – is reflected in earnings, with Slater picking up around £100 a week at Church Street and Hasselbaink on a mind-boggling £15,000 a week.

Even that is a substantial drop on his estimated £40,000 a week at Chelsea and Middlesbrough.

But Donnelly believes players such as Slater – kicked out of Wolves by Cardiff boss Dave Jones – have the ability to shine.

"If I was to forecast anything, it would be that Chris Slater will play Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink out of the game," said Donnelly, who was similarly told to pack his bags at Villa by Tommy Docherty in 1969.

"He won't know what's hit him in his tights and gloves – I don't think he'll have seen anything like our tight, little ground, cramped dressing rooms and pitch.

"Our manager Charlie Blakemore says that if Chris was playing for a pub team, he'd play 500 per cent better than anyone else.

"But the thing with Chris is that if he was playing in the Football League, he'd be the same – he just raises his level for the opposition.

"He's always got time on the ball – it doesn't matter how many times you see him under pressure, he always seems to drop his shoulder, chest the ball away and get us out of danger.

"He's our Bobby Moore – he's got great skill, but 'Mooro' didn't have the pace of Slater.

"When he went to Blackpool on trial the pre-season before last, the pace on him when he came back was unbelievable.

"Now Chris has the showcase there being this game will be seen all over the world."

Chasetown's amazing Cup run has already seen them dump four higher-ranked teams Cambridge City, Nuneaton, Team Bath and Port Vale out of the competition.

And millionaire tycoon Donnelly isn't backing against another, insisting his club could hold their own at a much level.

"You could pick up our side and drop it into the Conference right now and we would hold our own," he said.

"Port Vale was our cup final but this is our Champions' League final – and we'll be hosting our Royal Variety performance beforehand with a piper playing Welsh songs," he said.

If Slater is Chasetown's Bobby Moore, then the chairman reckons boss Charlie Blakemore has a bit of several of the managerial greats.

"He's something special – he's a natural for management but he's also a nice person," he said.

"He is a mixture of Sir Alf Ramsey, quite a lot of Sir Bobby Robson and some of Bill Shankly – but he's also got an Alex Ferguson streak about him as well."

Many have speculated just how Chasetown have managed such staggering success since Donnelly and Blakemore have joined the club over the last three years.

But the chairman is keen to stress the motivating factor hasn't been money.

"People want to come and play for the club because they have heard how fantastic Charlie is," said Donnelly.

"But we will only have the right people playing for the club. We will pay the right money for the right players, but if people think they're extra-special, they will be out.

"No player here earns more than £200 a week – there's a few on between £100-£150 and there's quite a number of players on £50-£70 a week, but there's no bonus for beating Cardiff."

Donnelly is proud the club have kept the traditions of the Cup, having successfully fought tooth and nail to keep it at the tiny, 2,000-capacity Scholars Ground with reasonable ticket prices.

"We could have filled the ground several times over and put prices up to £30 or £40," he said.

"But when we played Oldham two years ago admission was £10 and prices are £19 and £13 this time, in keeping with what the FA and Cardiff wanted."

Donnelly also revealed the club will only make a small profit after losing out on £150,000 from the loss of live TV, while they also rejected an estimated £60,000 for exclusive media rights from a national newspaper.

The club have made some of that up by selling sponsorship rights for their shorts to the same paper, and live radio coverage.

Chasetown director and comedian Frank Carson is donating £1,000 to the players' pool.