Marine captain Niall Cummins is an Arsenal fan and teacher named after Niall Quinn who hopes pitch is a ‘minefield’ and Tottenham show ‘no respect’ for FA Cup

There's a popular narrative that whenever the likes of Marine come up against Premier League opposition in the FA Cup, the players want to face the big guns at their multi-thousand-seater grounds.

But for Marine captain, Arsenal fan and teacher Niall Cummins, that couldn't be further from the truth as his eighth-tier side prepare to welcome Tottenham to Rossett Park - live on talkSPORT this Sunday.

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"Personally, why would I want to go to the Spurs stadium, run around on carpet and get played off the pitch?" the 27-year-old told talkSPORT.

"It's an absolute no-brainer for me to do it at our place. I know the chairman wouldn't thank me for saying that, but from a football context, we want to do well in this game.

"For the first time in the club's history, we've got covers over the pitch - which I'm not too happy about. I was hoping it was going to be a bit of a minefield! It's been protected a bit too much."

He added: "I was really hoping Jose Mourinho would show the Cup no respect.

"You want to play against the kids, you don't want to play against all these top players!

"It'll be brilliant for the club to see all these top players, whether they're on the side or on the pitch, it'll be a great experience. But it won't help us if they bring all the big guns!"

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Cummins is right to ignore the magical element of the clash and focus on trying to win it, given the Marine CEO has confirmed his players will be unless they pull off a miracle against Spurs.

Marine, who have hardly played or trained over the last two months due to COVID, were forced to use Everton's training ground last night because all of their usual venues were frozen over or closed.

But, like many non-league players, football isn't the only profession for Cummins - and he is still juggling online teaching with his club's disrupted preparation for the match on Sunday.

He continued: "I've got a lesson in a minute once I'm finished with this! There's been a lot of support from the students, a lot of them are very into their football.

"Some of them are giving me a bit of stick, I don't want to make a fool of myself because I'm sure they'll have plenty of videos to show me!"

But besides wanting to avoid furlough and embarrassment in front of his onlooking students, there is another more sentimental reason why Cummins is desperate to beat Spurs.

He's a Gooner.

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Named after Gunners legend Niall Quinn, Cummins was raised with a passionate disdain for Arsenal's north London rivals.

"I'm an Arsenal fan because when I was younger, like most dads do, you teach your kids to support who you want to support, and he was a big Pat Jennings fan," he added.

"I am named after Niall Quinn! When Arsenal wasn't drawn out of the hat, the next best thing was Tottenham so we could get one over on them.

"There is a lot of history for myself."

Even still, his allegiance to Arsenal wouldn't stop him trying to get his hero Heung-min Son's shirt at full-time, if the opportunity arose.

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"I would never script it and try to get a shirt from the start, I don't agree with that and it doesn't sit well with me," Cummins said.

"But I would jump at the chance if someone does it. Everyone goes on about Harry Kane, he's the same position as me and he's a fantastic person.

"But the one I idolise is Son. His passion and commitment to the game. Any team that I coach, that's the sort of role model I look up to. He's number one for me."