Dean Campbell’s business card is knocking a Premier League heavyweight out of a mug competitors. So when Barrow’s holding midfielder align at Stamford Bridge for a Carabao Cup connection with Chelsea on Tuesday, the 23-year-old can make use of this for ideas.
In January 2023, on FA Cup 3rd round weekend break, Campbell, a 63rd-minute replacement for Stevenage, drove home a 90th-minute winner against Aston Villa that sent out the taking a trip followers ballistic and provided the child from Aberdeen an entrance in the prize’s mythology.
Related: AFC Wimbledon v Newcastle tie postponed after flooding damages pitch
“An amazing day for me, one that I’ll remember forever so I am hoping to make a few more memories this season as well,” Campbell claims. “It was an amazing atmosphere – I’d never been to Villa Park before and it was an incredible stadium and Villa had a lot of fans there. The atmosphere was brilliant. We managed to take a lot of Stevenage fans too, which added to the occasion even more.
“It’s an amazing experience to play at these stadiums that you don’t get to often. You have to cherish every moment, enjoy every opportunity. So we have to go [to Stamford Bridge] and work as hard as we can.”
As League Two leaders after a 2-0 success versus Newport on Saturday, Stephen Clemence’s side will certainly get here in a positive state of mind. They require to be as they attempt to surprise an Enzo Maresca team that includes the elite ability of Cole Palmer, Enzo Fern ández, Mois és Caicedo and a lot more, with the group rested 3 factors behind the Premier League leaders, Manchester City.
Campbell claims: “Those players are worth hundreds of millions. So to get the opportunity to play against players like that is amazing. It will be brilliant to see where I am in terms of the level required to play at the highest level. So it’s an exciting time for all of us. We’re all just looking to cherish the occasion, but we’re also looking to go and make ourselves proud and represent the club.”
Owing to Barrow- in-Furness’s remote area on the Cumbrian west coastline, the club has, because the very early 2000s, embraced a crossbreed system in which the gamers are gathered around Manchester, training at FC United of Manchester’s Broadhurst Park in Moston throughout the week and making the 100-mile, two-hour-plus journey north for home video games.
Clemence claims: “We travel to a hotel in Barrow and stay there. Because we don’t spend a lot of time in the area, we always send some players on a Friday afternoon to go around the schools and do a bit of work in the community. We’ll also have a little walk around the town on a Saturday morning, have a coffee and see a few supporters there. Then we play and it’s back to training in Manchester.
“What this does, it gives you a better chance of getting the better players or a bigger pool to choose from when it comes to recruitment because, what you find in League Two, you tend to have to sign players that live near a training ground because they’re not paid the money that the Premier League boys are who can just move house.”
Clemence took control of in May having actually been sacked by Gillingham much less than 6 months right into his initial supervisory blog post. The 46-year-old generally lines Barrow up in a 4-3-3. “I like my team to try to get after the opponent and like to think we’re a high-pressing team,” he claims.
“I want to play our football in the opponent’s half and try to get bums off seats, entertain the supporters. We’re an entertainment industry and I want to try to find the best route towards goal for us to create chances and score.”
Clemence recognizes the difficulty ofChelsea “It’s going be a very tough game,” he claims. “I was sitting at home watching Barnsley try to take on Manchester United at Old Trafford and they got a bit of a doing [7-0 in the Carabao Cup] and Barnsley are doing quite well in League One – the division above us.
“So we know it’s going be a very tough game. But what I’ll say going into it is: I’m really proud of us for getting to this stage. It’s a great moment for everybody in the town to be going to Chelsea. A big moment for us all.”
Campbell, that continues to be Aberdeen’s youngest debutant at 16 years, one month and 23 days, has actually really felt the thrill of a large minute, the strike at Villa originating from charming reasoning.
Campbell claims: “I knew that they were down to 10 men [Leander Dendoncker had been sent off] so had most of their players in the box and I thought I’d go out for a short corner.
“I got the ball, looked up and saw I had more space than I thought I would. I focused on making a good connection and giving the keeper something to deal with and thankfully I hit it really well.
“Moments like that are what you dream of – to play on the biggest stages and have a feeling like that and get to celebrate in front of all the fans that pay their hard-earned money to come and watch us.
“So it wasn’t just a goal for me, it was a goal for the whole club. It’s something I’d like to feel again and hopefully we all can.”
