Luke Garrard is ready to recreate Emirates FA Cup magic at Boreham Wood just two weeks after returning to the club as manager.
Garrard departed the Wood after nine years in charge when they were relegated from the National League in April only to be reinstated as boss a few months later following the departure of Ross Jenkins.
Leading his charges to the fifth round of the 2021-22 FA Cup was one of several highlights of Garrard's previous stint and he had no hesitation in accepting the invite to make more memories.
He said: "I wanted to right the wrongs of getting them relegated. It wasn't great in terms of the way I left, we made so much history together and ended on a negative.
"I didn't think twice. I looked at the squad, I was still following results because you can't spend nine years somewhere as manager and lose all affiliation with the club. They recruited really well and I knew there was a core of people in the building who I worked with previously.
"The aim is to win promotion straight back to the National League. I'm not foolish, it will be difficult, but that's what we're going for. I've never really been in a position where we're targeting promotion as a real aim. You're playing with big boys in the National League and so the opportunity to try and be a dominant team drew me back."
Garrard's emotional connection with Boreham Wood survived their separation of ways and was also a key factor in his return.
Their 2021-22 heroics, when they beat League One AFC Wimbledon at home and Championship Bournemouth away from home to set up a fifth round tie at Everton, are FA Cup folklore.
And the Hertfordshire club's performance at Goodison Park, holding Premier League opposition to 0-0 until the 57th minute, is one of Garrard's proudest nights in football.
He said: "Bournemouth has to be one of the best nights I've ever had as a manager but walking out next to Frank Lampard at Goodison Park tops the lot.
"I said in my interview after Bournemouth that I tell my nine-year-old son, who was seven at the time, to go and be a team player and work hard every Sunday morning. That was the case for my team too. There was no secret recipe, that was what we did.
"All three of those teams are better than us but ultimately it's 11v11. In the Wimbledon game we were excellent and looked like the League One side. Against Bournemouth we rode our luck but came through it. By the time we'd taken Everton to the second half it was 500 minutes of FA Cup football without conceding a goal. They ended up bringing on incredible talent to change the game in their favour.
"Our culture and our togetherness is a massive factor in the success we've had over the years.
"And my biggest takeaway is that my nine-year-old and six-year-old sons, who could take or leave football at the time, came on the journey with myself and the club and are now besotted by it."
This weekend's third round qualifying tie with Larkhall Athletic sees roles reversed, with Garrard's side the higher-ranked team against tier-eight opponents.
He said: "We deal with that by preparing as if it's a league fixture. I went to watch them on Tuesday night and I've done my homework as I would do on any other team.
"We will give them the respect they deserve, they've done fantastically to get to this stage. We need to go into the game with the mindset of taking them to a level they can't get to to, having an intensity and professionalism about our game.
"We don’t want any what ifs."
