Kim Marsch did not probably envisage her marriage of worldwide adventures with Jesse would take her to Accrington and yet she was spoilt once again by her husband this week. Leeds United’s head coach took a rare chance to see Accrington Stanley in action on Tuesday night ahead of this weekend’s clash.
Marsch was very impressed with what he saw and how accommodating owner Andy Holt was for both him and his wife, who watched the hosts’ FA Cup replay victory over Boreham Wood alongside Holt.
“I went down with my wife to watch the match, this is how managers manage to find date nights as you take your wife to a football match,” said Marsch. “I met Andy Holt and Dave Burgess (managing director) and they were both very gracious and welcoming to us. We sat by them.
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“I saw what the ground was like, which is always special when you play some of the lower division teams, [you see] exactly what the environment is like at the match. They have a lot of pride in the pitch they have.
“They have a stitched pitch and they clearly took care of it really well. That was the first good sign I had and they were proud to show me the condition of the pitch.
“They have a lot of pride in what they've built down there. They've kind of rebuilt the VIP area. Our away fans will have a nice opportunity to enjoy [the match]. They have a nice bar area, they have a nice stadium atmosphere.
“I know our fans will come in numbers and enjoy the experience. [I] watch closely what their team is about and their team competes hard. You could see they valued the tournament in a big way.”
John Coleman has overachieved for years with Accrington. Despite playing with modest budgets at National League level, let alone League Two or League One, Stanley are in their fifth consecutive season in the third tier.
Marsch expects them to play direct, long balls with a big focus on set-pieces as well as a physical approach without the ball.
“They cared a lot about winning the match [on Tuesday],” he said. “They competed in every moment. It's a lot of set-piece, long throw-ins. They'll play a lot of long balls there. They'll clearly try to defend hard and play direct against us.
“We'll have to be ready for that and we'll have to be ready also to play our kind of football, to be confident to go after the game, to command the ball, to score goals. This will be the challenge for us on the day.”
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