Richard Hill: Eastleigh manager says FA Cup replay defeat will stay with him

Richard Hill is currently in his third spell in charge of Eastleigh following previous stints in 2012 and 2017

Eastleigh boss Richard Hill says the memory of his side's FA Cup exit to Newport will "live" with him.

County will now host Manchester United in the fourth round after recording a 3-1 win over the Spitfires on Tuesday.

Paul McCallum had got Eastleigh level just after half-time, only for the League Two side to end their hopes with two more goals to seal the win.

"This will be a memory which lives for a while," Hill, 60, told BBC Radio Solent.

"In time I think this will be a game I'd like back again.

"The prize for this was massive and that's what hurts the most - what could have been.

"[A home tie with Man United] was not just for me or the players but for everybody - the prize of being around the players who would have been coming here.

"It would have been a great occasion for everyone connected with the club."

The Spitfires host Oldham in a game with big National League play-off implications on Saturday and Hill says he faces a difficult task getting his players in the right frame of mind so soon after their cup disappointment.

"I don't know how I lift the players - I have to lift myself first," he said.

Hill's side are five places and five points behind the sixth-placed Latics ahead of Saturday's game at the Silverlake Stadium.

"The players have got to pull their shoulders back, roll their sleeves up and go 'right, we go again Saturday'.

"They have got to find something in themselves, like I have to find something inside myself."