Ryan Ledson says Preston North End will “give it a real good go” in their Emirates FA Cup fourth round tie against Tottenham Hotspur.
PNE take on Antonio Conte’s side at Deepdale on Saturday evening at 6pm, in front of the BBC One cameras, while tickets are still on sale from www.mypne.com.
Spurs will arrive in Lancashire sat fifth in the Premier League table, as the teams face off for the first time since their meeting at the same venue in 2009.
Ryan said: “Obviously we’re coming up against some of the best players in the world.
“You only have to look at the front three with Harry Kane, Son, and maybe Richarlison.
“They’ve all just been at the World Cup so obviously they’re unbelievable players, and it’s good to test yourself.
“At Deepdale, hopefully it’s going to be a full house and the fans can get behind us and we can give it a real good go.
“Anything can happen; it’s football. In the FA Cup especially, you’ve seen some bigger shocks than Preston beating Tottenham.
“We’ll go there, it’s a free hit for us. We’ll go and enjoy ourselves, we’ll enjoy the day and give it a right good go.”
PNE progressed to the fourth round of the competition thanks to a 3-1 turnaround victory over Huddersfield Town at Deepdale, while Spurs overcame Portsmouth by a single goal.
Conte opted to make several changes for that encounter, but there was certainly no lack of quality on show, with the likes of Harry Kane, Heung-Min Son and Bryan Gil all starting.
All eyes will be on England’s joint record goalscorer, too, as he could succeed Jimmy Greaves as Spurs’ top scorer of all time.
Ryan added: “They’ve got, I would say, the best striker in the world in Harry Kane. As I’ve mentioned, they’ve got Son too, but they’re solid at the back as well.
“Obviously they’ve got Conte who’s an unbelievable manager, who’s been everywhere.
“They’ll be solid and they’ll be good going forward, so we all know it’s going to be a tough game, but hopefully we can give them a good game and give a good account of ourselves.
“It’s sort of like the pressure’s off. No one expects us to go and beat a top four Premier League side, but why not?
“Let’s just go and have a go at them and see what happens.”
While North End will be looking to make their mark as a team, clashes against sides from the top tier also offer players the opportunity to come head to head with some of the world’s best in their own individual battles.
There won’t be any elements of admiring the quality on show, though, with Ryan looking for PNE to get stuck in from the off.
He said: “Don’t get me wrong, we’ll respect them, but when you’re on that pitch it’s you against them.
“There’ll be an element of respect, but there won’t be any standing five yards off them. We’ll be getting right into them.”