Kidderminster Harriers hope to brew another Cup shock

Vaughan and his team-mates will take on Sunderland at the Stadium of Light in the fourth round of the FA Cup with the 27-year-old determined they will use their moment in the spotlight to show off the strength of their division.

After playing as a trainee for Birmingham and a young professional at Walsall, Vaughan dropped down to Willenhall before curbing his temperamental streak and finding a home at Aggborough.

The full-back has flourished with Harriers and believes he and his non-league peers are undervalued by the public.

"People outside of football don't realise how good the standard is in the Conference," said Vaughan, who helped Harriers reach the Skrill Premier play-offs last season with a remarkable run at the end of the campaign.

"We are virtually full-time professionals and we will go into this game, just like Luton did last year and Tamworth have, aiming to show people we are not a million miles away.

"Obviously you have to respect Sunderland because they are a Premier League side and they are very good. But we aren't a million miles away and hopefully we show a bit of that.

"It's not like it used to be. You used to get Conference and non-league clubs playing against Premier League clubs and they would lump it and try to bully them.

"We are not really like that. We can mix it if we want but we like to get it down and pass.

"Don't get me wrong, if they were coming to Aggborough it might be a different story on our pitch but up there we are going to do what most teams do – get it down and play the right way."

When Vaughan left the Banks's Stadium in 2006, his footballing future was uncertain.

The tough-tackling defender was forced to consider all of his options and become a part-time player, but has battled his way back into the professional ranks and is determined to prove his mettle on Wearside.

"As a player you have to believe you can play at the highest level," he said. "You always need to push yourself and keep pushing yourself.

"I've said it before but I hope Sunderland play a strong side because you want to test yourself against the people you see on Match of the Day week-in, week-out.

"Hopefully it can be a more regular thing. It's a nice distraction from the league."

Vaughan and his team-mates have set up their fairytale trip despite the upheaval of losing Steve Burr, the manager who built the team and guided them to the brink of promotion last season as well as negotiating a path to round three of the Cup.

Andy Thorn has been appointed to replace the popular Burr, and Vaughan has been relieved by his first impressions of the new man.

"I'm one of the players who really got on with the previous manager so I didn't know what to expect," admitted Vaughan.

"But you can't take anything away from Andy. He gets us so organised and you really believe what he is saying to you.

"He is very professional, you can tell he has come from higher up in the league. He has us well organised tactically, we look very good and maybe the little tinkering is what we needed.

"But on the other hand he has given us licence to express ourselves and as a player who likes to get forward it's been music to my ears. Sometimes you will change managers and they ask you to do something totally different. He hasn't. He has still said he wants me to express myself and get forward so it is only a good thing for me."

And Vaughan believes Harriers can arrive in the north east free from pressure and able to enjoy their chance at one of the biggest FA Cup giant-killings of all time.

"Every time we play in the league we are expected to win," he said.

"To go into a game with, really, absolutely no pressure is great. The nerves will be there because of the occasion and playing on the big stage but in terms of getting a result there is no pressure on us."