When Everton legend Adrian Heath asked whether any of his Minnesota United stars wanted a rest this week the answer was an emphatic 'no'.
The club, known as the Loons, is in the middle of a busy run of games as they vie for glory in the MLS. They beat DC United last weekend in front of another famous Blue, Wayne Rooney, as he prepares to take on the managerial job there.
This Saturday, Minnesota travel to Texas for a match with Houston Dynamo as they battle to cement the club's place in the end of season play-offs. But no-one wants to miss out on one of the biggest games in the club's history and a chance to compete with a Premier League side.
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The sense of occasion on Wednesday night will be huge, and everyone wants to play a part. Heath said: "I said to them this a perfect opportunity for you to see what a Premier League player looks like and what it is like to play against them, so the players are really excited. We are in a really hectic stretch at this moment and I spoke to a few of them and said: 'Listen, it's a big game away at Houston for us on Saturday.' Not one of them said they were a bit tired and needed a rest - they all wanted to play.
"There is a big sense of occasion really because Everton will be the biggest club to have come to our new stadium. For the guys this will be the biggest game maybe they ever play. So we are looking forward to it."
Heath, nicknamed Inchy during his time on Merseyside, is excited too. He has been ever since he learned there was an opportunity to host the club he played for 308 times, scoring 94 goals.
Speaking to the ECHO at a pre-match event in Minneapolis' Mall of America, the 61-year-old said: "It didn't take me too long to convince the chairman. He rang me and said: 'Listen, we've got a chance of getting Everton do you think we should do it?' I said: 'Of course we should do it, are you kidding?'
"It looks like we are going to get a full house tomorrow so everybody is really excited, me included. The fact the club is coming out here, and the fans, and Sharpy [former teammate and non-executive director at Everton, Graeme Sharp] who is here, is huge. Everybody at our club is really excited for what the future holds.
"I'm really pleased Everton have decided to come again because when you look at the likes of Tim Howard, Landon Donovon and Brian McBride we have got a history of American players. So if they keep coming back here I know the fanbase will grow. There is a huge football fanbase in America now, and it is growing. Every game is on the TV so I see more Everton games now than when I was back home. I'm really excited about the game against Everton and just really, really pleased the fans will be seeing all the players who are coming here and gracing our new stadium."
Heath is pleased for his current club, pleased for his players and pleased for Everton that the game is taking place. He is also pleased on a personal level. And the build-up to the match has only heightened his sense of pride at the time he spend with Everton after joining in 1982 as a then club record signing from Stoke City.
He said: "I have never hid my feelings. I probably appreciate it more now than I have ever done. The fact I played there for the length of time I did and played in the team that I did. You are not at Everton very long before you realise the responsibility that you have. And I think that was exemplified in the last few games of last season where everybody actually saw what the club meant to the people.
"I think for some of our younger supporters it was important for them to see that because it's 1995 since we last won a trophy so for them it was a chance to see why their parents and their grandparents love the club - they saw a little bit of what this club can be like. I think also for Frank [Lampard] and the modern players, hopefully they can use that and it can galvanise them."
Heath, who won two league titles, an FA Cup and Cup Winners' Cup with the Blues, won a personal award on Tuesday when he was handed the Everton North American All Star Award. Voted for by North American-based supporters, the award commends the contributions of players, coaches and managers that have represented the club and have a connection with, or hail from, the continent.
Delighted with the honour, he said: "I think I appreciate it [his time with Everton] more now. Because when you are caught up in it you just think it will continue and that is what it will always be like. You soon realise it's not. To be able to get this award it is very, very special. But I never take for granted what we did. I'm incredibly proud of what we did."
Minnesota United's home ground, the Allianz Field, opened in 2019 so Heath can see what a new stadium can do for a club. Asked how he felt about Everton's planned move from Goodison Park to a new development on Bramley-Moore Dock, he said: "It is a little bittersweet for me. I have so many memories at Everton and I am a bit of a nostalgia freak, I love old stadiums and I still think it is one of the most atmospheric stadiums in the country - you know, under the lights at Goodison on a Wednesday night for a big game, there is nothing like it.
"But I understand. Progress is progress and they have decided they have got to make that move because of economics. I just hope they take as much as they can and put it into that new stadium. We are a relatively new club and we had to do it to get into the MLS and it has been a gamechanger for us. We sell out nearly every game, we have a great atmosphere and have really good facilities. But I have no doubt [the chairman] Bill Kenwright and [majority shareholder] Farhad Moshiri will put a great stadium together that befits a club of its standing. So I look forward to seeing it but it will be a really sad day when the old one goes."
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