Worthing aim to deepen Morecambe's gloom in FA Cup

Chris Agutter took over at Worthing this summer following Adam Hinshelwood's departure for York City last season

Worthing boss Chris Agutter is aiming to heap more woe on EFL basement boys Morecambe in the FA Cup on Saturday.

The Shrimps sit bottom of League Two with one win and nine defeats from 14 games ahead of an 11-hour, 600-mile round-trip to play on the 3G surface at Woodside.

By contrast the Rebels have won five of their past six games and lie just two points off the top of National League South.

"To be honest, if I’m in Morecambe’s shoes, it’s a horrendous draw," Agutter told BBC Radio Sussex. "We do view it as a good opportunity."

Agutter said Worthing were keen to come out firing against a Derek Adams side they expect to be low on confidence, having shipped 11 goals in losing their past three games on the spin.

"We go into every game with the attitude of front foot, be aggressive, attack the game," he added.

"It’s great to be welcoming a Football League club to Woodside. It’s a great opportunity for us to show what we can do and try and impress our game on the opposition and play on our terms. We back ourselves to be successful."

Agutter said his squad were well aware that the long journey, unfamiliar playing surface and contrasting form played into their hands, adding: "I think for them it’s a very awkward draw. We are playing well, two points off the top, there are loads of factors which play into it being a really difficult draw for Morecambe.

"Winning can be a habit but also losing can be a habit – there’s real momentum both sides of the coin in terms of the two clubs. We’ll play on that.

"We’ll go into the game really confident with an attitude to try and impress our game on them, irrelevant of the fact they are a League Two club.

"It'll be about how can we expose them, where are their weak links, how can our strengths expose their weaknesses? It’s about whether we can do what we do really well."

With £45,000 in prize money for the winner, there are big financial implications for a win, but Agutter added: "The financial side is great for the club, but the big thing for us from a football perspective is an opportunity to test yourself against Football League clubs.

"The prestige and opportunity to progress beyond round one far outweigh financial benefits, in my mind. We want to show Morecambe what we can do."