Gateshead striker Michael Rankine says the FA Cup has left him with a taste for facing high-level opposition on a more regular basis after the north-east side more matched Premier League West Bromwich Albion for 40 minutes.
The Conference side eventually succumbed to the Baggies' greater finishing quality as a barrage of goals either side of half-time set the home side on their way to a 7-0 victory.
West Brom 7-0 Gateshead
FA Cup Third Round
The Hawthorns
Saturday 3 January 2015
Winners receive £67,500
However, that fails to tell the full story of a game in which The Heed were on top of throughout the early exchanges – and Rankine says that can provide enormous encouragement to the players.
“You take the positives out of it because for 40 minutes I thought we were the better team,” he told TheFA.com after the game.
“We are out the Cup now but we’ve done well to get to where we are. This club hasn’t been here for 60 years!”
Gateshead sit 11th in the Conference Premier and fell at the final hurdle last season, losing to Cambridge United in the Play-Off Final at Wembley.
Rankine has already experienced league football during spells with Bournemouth, Aldershot and Scunthorpe but the 29-year-old hopes that facing top-class opposition in the FA Cup can motivate his younger colleagues to ensure they get to play such teams every week.
“I’ve played in the League and I definitely want to get back there,” he said.
“There are some young lads in our dressing room who are hungry for it and that game today will give them a taste.
“It has also reminded me that I can do it, I can play well against higher opposition and I’m not past it,” he added with a smile.
Rankine went on to add that the value of the FA Cup to teams like Gateshead lies not only in the confidence it can give them but in the experience also.
“It’s brilliant for us as the lower team because you’d never get to play against these players unless it was for the FA Cup,” he continued.
“So for us it’s great to be able to say you’ve played against Berahino, McAuley or whoever.
“You can look back and say I played at this ground and that ground. Some players will never get to play at these kinds of grounds so the FA Cup is brilliant for things like that.”
