Defender Layla Banaras says everyone at Lewes is excited to be on the television on Sunday as they host Crystal Palace in the third round of the Women’s FA Cup.
“Everyone is really up for it,” she told SheKicks.net. “And yeah, I think we’re all really excited to be on TNT Sports live, which is obviously a big thing.
“It’s the FA Cup and anything can happen in the FA Cup.”
The 19-year-old signed for Lewes this summer, and knows that family and friends across the country will be tuning in.
“It’s going to be crazy. And yeah, everyone’s just really excited that all the stands for the cameras have been set up at the [Dripping] Pan at the ground.”
It will, of course, be a tough task against a second-tier side who are enjoying a good season in the Championship – and Banaras says they are very aware of that.
But she adds: “I feel like that’s what is maybe going to push us through because we haven’t got as much pressure on us, but we know that the competition’s going to be really, really tough. They’re in the league above, and obviously they’re doing well as well.”
Layla Banaras: Equal FA Cup campaign will take time
Lewes had a solid win last time out, beating Watford 3-2 away in the FA Women’s National League Southern Premier.
“The league is so tight,” she says. “You can win a game and then go near the top, and then you could lose and you’re near the bottom. It’s really tight this season, so it’ll be interesting to see how it pans out.
“We just need to keep the momentum from our win and just keep it going into the new year and into the second half of the season.”
And that will begin with Sunday’s cup match – with Lewes’s famous Equal FA Cup campaign also taking centre stage.
“I feel like it’s something that will take time and that’s why Lewes is so persistent and keep going every hour with it, because I think we need to make as much noise as possible so we cannot not be heard, if that makes sense,” she says.
“The more that we get it out there, the more that people share, the more visibility people have of it, it actually raises more questions higher up to then hopefully change what isn’t right.”
